Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna – Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure

¶ 01 If something was done properly, there is no need to get angry, Hon. Members. If you have not done anything wrong, there is no need to get angry. The relevant people will put on the cap; you need not put it on unnecessarily. In any case, Hon. Ambika Samivel, too, said exactly what we are saying. Under the Indian housing programme, led by our Hon. Ambika Member in the Haputale electorate, we will lay the foundation stones tomorrow to build houses. Those houses were destroyed by a landslide two years ago. Therefore, 51 families are still living in a tea factory with their children. During that period, those people were not given houses.

¶ 02 In Kegalle, due to the landslide at Saamasara Kanda, 22 families have been living in tents since 2014. We will soon commence construction of those houses as well. It is not that houses were never built. Though we do not wish to point fingers about who did what, first priority should always be to give houses to destitute people. But, that did not happen. Some were given houses due to political patronage; houses were given to relatives and friends. Recently, I went to see the 50 houses built at Keppetipola, Welimada. Only seven of the beneficiary families are still living there. Some have sold the houses; some have moved to Colombo. These are realities we experience, and you are aware of them too. Therefore, this time, after discussions with officials, we decided that where there is no political bias and where the NBRO has issued a report identifying an area in Sri Lanka as highly landslide-prone, we will build the houses there. That will be fair. In Badulla District, about 2,000 families are living in line rooms on estates. Those line rooms are highly vulnerable to landslides. Therefore, at the recent Badulla District Coordinating Committee, we approved building houses for them.

¶ 03 In 2014, at Haldummulla, Meeriyabedda, 34 houses were buried in a landslide. The NBRO report of 2007 had already identified those line rooms as landslide-prone seven years earlier. Yet, no one bothered to build houses or even check, resulting in the loss of 34 lives. We do not want to see such things during our time. Therefore, we will build those houses.

¶ 04 Another point: You said, “You turned your back; you ignored us.” We are not like that. We said we will grant dignity and the right of residence to the Malaiyaha community. Not seven perches, but ten perches will be given tomorrow. We are not considering high-rises this year. All houses being built now are single-storey, on individual plots, as you suggested. Thank you.