The Hon. Jagath Manuwarna

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, those who brought contaminated medicine and saline into this country, harming and killing our people, are now facing charges in court. After the eloquent sermon of an Hon. Member who once voted to save that scandal-ridden Health Minister during the no-confidence motion, I felt to begin with a verse from the Vasala Sutta:

¶ 02 “Not by birth is one an outcaste, not by birth a Brahmin. By deed one is an outcaste; by deed one is a Brahmin.”

¶ 03 Since you claim knowledge of the Dhamma, please reflect on its meaning.

¶ 04 On today’s debate on the Heads of Expenditure of Health and Mass Media, many focused on Health. As I’m closer to that sector, I will focus more on Mass Media. Notably, while substantial funds go to other sectors, the allocation to Media is very small. I will explain why, and present data.

¶ 05 The Ministry of Mass Media oversees around 12 institutions: Department of Government Information; Government Printing Department; Sri Lanka Post; Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation; Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation; Independent Television Network (ITN) Ltd.; Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.; Sri Lanka Press Council; Sri Lanka Printing Corporation; Sri Lanka Foundation; Right to Information Commission; and Lanka Puwath (News) Agency Ltd. Many have run deep losses in recent times. I will cover a few within my time.

¶ 06 Sri Lanka Rupavahini (the National Television) was once the premier, respected channel—directors saw telecasting on Rupavahini as an honour; audiences sought quality content there—remember tele-dramas like Wedahamine and Dandubasnamanaya. The channel, gifted by Japan as a complete package in 1988, has since deteriorated. It now loses Rs. 4–5 million monthly, kept afloat by Treasury to pay salaries and utilities. With current fiscal constraints, we must revive using internal resources, to deliver public service without closure.

¶ 07 We must also ask what past governments did when these institutions prospered. Over the last three years, the National TV did unpaid government work: in 2021 Rs. 122 million; 2022 Rs. 144 million; 2023 Rs. 154 million—unpaid. No entity can sustain this. We reduced the Government’s purchased time belts from Rs. 154 million (2023) to Rs. 52 million (2024), and should reduce further.

¶ 08 In 2011, the Cricket World Cup was telecast by the National TV, which spent Rs. 143 million and earned Rs. 550 million. But thereafter, those in power—Presidential sons—launched private sports channels and took cricket telecast rights for 2012–2015 at an under-valued price, depriving National TV of key revenue. They even removed archival sports footage without responsibility. When that channel finally closed, only a chassis of an OB bus was returned. Losses were socialized to the Treasury, i.e., the people. We cannot keep funding failure; we must reform from within.

¶ 09 Staffing is another issue. A former Health Minister who also held Media brought in associates, overstaffing without appropriate skills. We downsized somewhat, but funds are still short. Rupavahini reportedly has 94 producers, some boasting of doing no program in three years—this is tragic. Channels cannot pay creators; producers have halted work. ITN faces similar arrears to producers, caused by using state media for election propaganda, leaving channels bankrupt.

¶ 10 We must retrain staff, upgrade technology—Rupavahini last upgraded around 1998; still runs old cameras and systems. Countries like Japan are ready to assist—let’s partner for upgrading.

¶ 11 We also need to uplift media ethics and professionalism. We plan to introduce a National Media Policy, and thereafter allocate a dedicated head to develop these institutions. We aim to establish a Chartered Institute of Media Professionals of Sri Lanka, aligned to international standards, to build a high-skill, ethical media profession. We invite state and private media to collaborate. Thank you.