The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake

¶ 01 We do not know what “Sri Lanka Made” or whatever that is. You cannot make a prosperous country with Rs. 300 million. The Hon. Prime Minister read a list of expenses for former Presidents’ foreign travel. It was said the incumbent President travelled to three countries with 11 others at a cost of Rs. 18 million. But Hon. Prime Minister, did they go on half-tickets? Rs. 1.8 million is Rs. 180 lakhs; with Rs. 18 lakhs per person you cannot take 11 people. The President is short and stocky—did he get half-tickets? I cannot travel on a half-ticket; I am big. Please explain how the President and 11 others went to China, India, and Dubai for Rs. 1.8 million. If you can travel that cheaply, let the whole Opposition go together. If three countries can be visited for Rs. 1.8 million, that is amazing. Former Presidents have spent Rs. 500 million, Rs. 1,000 million on foreign trips; that is fine. They have gone 33 times, 20 times; we accept that. But we do not understand how this trip cost Rs. 1.8 million. Please explain that.

¶ 02 Hon. Minister of Public Security, my colleague who represents Badulla District, I will raise another matter. Our Deputy Minister of Defence then was expecting to become Army Commander; you know this. I was the one who took his letter to President Maithripala Sirisena. Dayasiri Jayasekara was our Secretary then. You remember, Daya? Deputy Minister Aruna Jayasekara from Uva—if someone from Uva was to be Army Commander, my first preference was for him; you know that. Attorney-at-Law Sujeewa Jayasinghe and you met me. I gave that letter to President Sirisena. It was not my fault that you were not considered then; it was President Sirisena who did not consider it. Whatever happened, I did my part. We respect Aruna Jayasekara because he is from our Badulla Central College.

¶ 03 On another point: you spoke of the North. Fine, give back lands by removing Army camps from the North. We will not object. But do not move all those camps to Diyatalawa and disrupt ongoing activities there. Now in Diyatalawa there is hardly any land left for poor people to cultivate vegetables. Army camps are being put up in places like Nariyakanda, Manikkakanda, Kahagolla—areas where vegetables were grown. You even took over SLTB buildings, and the Army has been placed even in the Kahagolla SLTB premises and the Kahagolla work yard. Remove camps from the North, but do not relocate all units and camps into Udarata, Badulla, Diyatalawa, displacing helpless people. Units are being set up everywhere, pushing out vegetable farmers. Travel along the Welimada road beyond Bandarawela; you can see this. Camps are coming up and farmers are removed; Diyatalawa is being filled with camps. Do justice to Jaffna; give lands back there; but also be fair to our people.