The Hon. Sudath Balagalla

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to make my first speech as a new MP of the 10th Parliament. Six of us have been elected from Badulla District. Are our calamities only natural? For 76 years we have suffered political calamities. Those who ruled from these seats for 76 years have imperiled education; most in Badulla cannot properly educate their children. They also plunged health, agriculture and the environment into crisis. Ours is a blessed country—with rain 265 days a year, 103 rivers cascading from the hills, 93 tributaries feeding the land, and some of the world’s best soils—yet today we shout “no rice,” “no coconuts,” and even basic words have become national problems, because of decisions taken by rulers in these seats for 76 years.

¶ 02 This morning, Government Members spoke most on these matters. From the Opposition, only about five from Badulla managed to come, and now, not even one of the three who should speak about people’s issues in Badulla is in the Chamber. Today 103 families and 3,844 people in Badulla are affected; there is one death and eight hospitalized; no one speaks for them. About 104 acres of agricultural land have been destroyed.

¶ 03 Time is short, so I will add this and conclude. An Opposition MP once said, “We asked the field.” No—ask the farmer, not the field. We did not ask the farmer; we went to the field. I toured the entire Mahaweli ‘C’ area. One of its two main reservoirs is Ulhitiya-Rathkinda. That spill was opened at midnight. Officials told me, “We had to open it urgently; if the bund breached, it would be worse.” Forty years since Mahaweli ‘C’ was created, rulers sat in these seats, yet if a dam failed tonight, where do people go? There isn’t even a warning sign 400 meters downstream. Opening gates by 2.5 meters at once swept away deer, cattle; people escaped with great difficulty. I propose to the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation: Sri Lanka built many large reservoirs; what protection—what insurance—exists for people downstream? Where are the sirens? Sometimes it takes an hour and a half for water to arrive; people could have had time to save their belongings. Those who ruled for 76 years never gave us that chance. Maybe it’s not officials’ fault, but rules must change.

¶ 04 If heavy rains are expected, reservoir levels must be lowered. This is the Maha season; water will anyway come. But that decision was not taken. There is a grave danger to people downstream. Our Government must urgently pay attention to this neglected area of 40 years. People must know where to go and how to be safe if a dam suddenly fails; an early warning system is needed.

¶ 05 I thank Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority officials; they worked hard to resolve issues. In some areas, sand 1.5 to 2 feet thick covered fields like the Sahara; people cannot remove it. The Authority was very proactive, as were Divisional Secretaries and officials, who worked with us late into the night. I thank them.

¶ 06 Our relief services team also acted where needed. To Opposition Members: if you cannot sit in those seats, go to the people now; go to those areas; do not come here and present false arguments. Join the people and work the soil as we do.

¶ 07 Also, understand the people’s mandate. Those here now are leaders who fought the wrong decisions taken from these seats—on the farms, in workplaces and markets. Those leaders now occupy the very seats you held. If you do not grasp this, tomorrow the few seats you have in Opposition will also vanish.

¶ 08 Thank you.