The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I will flag three or four points.

¶ 02 First, in 2016, with World Bank funding of US Dollars 55 million, the Strategic Cities Development Project (SCDP) commenced in Jaffna. It was completed without the participation of the Jaffna and Nallur Divisional Secretariats, the Jaffna UDA, or the Jaffna Municipal Council. Implementation was by the UDA Head Office in Colombo. The SCDP Management and Implementation Units were staffed with political appointees lacking adequate qualifications. A master plan for drainage was to be prepared with Rs. 1,870 million, allocated by UDA to a private firm in Colombo. The plan was made without rainfall or elevation data. Experts who raised this were ignored, but the plan proceeded.

¶ 03 Today’s disaster is natural, but the flooding was made far worse by this negligent, haphazard project without adequate data. This was repeatedly raised with the previous Government. My colleague, former MP Hon. Selvarajah Kajendren, from 2020 and every year thereafter, raised it at DCC meetings, at the Kachcheri, in Budget Debates, and with the relevant Ministry, seeking an investigation. It is a crime: large sums spent without fundamental data, and now Jaffna experiences unprecedented flooding. I urge this Government, which pledged zero corruption, to investigate. This project reeks of corruption. The Hon. Prime Minister is here; I request her to look into it. We tried with insider information to bring this to the attention of the Ranil Wickremesinghe Government as well. The project started in 2016—one can see why it was hushed up. Please investigate.

¶ 04 Second, in Batticaloa, when we visited around 26–27 November, beyond drainage issues, because of very heavy rainfall, all sluice gates of the tanks were opened simultaneously; with no coordination, waters could not be controlled, worsening the calamity.

¶ 05 Finally, after the cyclone, the Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources and Hon. K. Ilankumaran (Jaffna) visited the coastline. Trawlers and small boats in Jaffna have been completely damaged. Despite repeated requests since even the peace process era to build proper breakwaters, they were not built. Where breakwaters exist in Jaffna, boats were safe. I appeal to the Minister, who also represents Jaffna, to allocate funds now to build these breakwaters. A previous move to develop Point Pedro Harbour and move fisherfolk there was unpopular—they simply want deepened channels and proper bunds. That should not be very expensive. Fisheries in the North and East suffered most during the war due to bans and severe restrictions. Now, as they rebuild, failure to support them would be a travesty. Please also look into corruption by the previous fisheries minister. These are man-made problems exacerbating the disaster. Even with limited resources, addressing them will make a huge difference.

¶ 06 Thank you.