The Hon. (Dr.) Nandana Millagala

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity to speak under the Head of Expenditure of the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure.

¶ 02 Plantation is not merely planting a tree, harvesting, and selling for income; it carries a deep humanistic culture and the foundation of civility—historical experiences and traditions. The policies and budgetary estimates we present for agriculture and the plantation sector are grounded in such profound policy vision—centered on people, human development, and the nation’s future.

¶ 03 While the Hon. Minister Paulraj spoke, I recalled a case from my constituency—Yatiyantota, Kegalle District—where a 16-year-old girl living in estate line rooms took her own life a few months ago. In a note, she wrote that she could no longer bear watching her mother and father living with other partners. That is a small example of the reality of estate life; we can present many such examples. If we examine where drugs and cannabis entrap youth most, the estate communities are disproportionately victimized. In education too, many lives are broken among estate populations. They face severely difficult lives in society.

¶ 04 Understanding this deeply, our Government has allocated funds through this Ministry for the estate housing program—two lines: Rs. 923.65 million and Rs. 840 million—to address these crises and hardships in their lives.

¶ 05 In this Budget, Rs. 56 million is allocated to upgrade child development centres; Rs. 62 million for roofing repairs to ancient line rooms; Rs. 30 million for common sanitation; and Rs. 108 million for road development in estates, among other planned allocations, to uplift their lives. This is not merely to build houses, but to restore a cultural life linked to the home, and ensure they live as equal citizens. With that message, I conclude.

¶ 06 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member, for the time.