The Hon. Dammika Patabendi - Minister of Environment

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today’s main debate is on Clean Sri Lanka, a core strategy of the NPP Government. When we took charge, Sri Lanka was not only economically bankrupt but also socially and ethically broken, and our environment was gravely degraded.

¶ 02 Hence Clean Sri Lanka rests on three pillars—environmental, social and ethical development. The Opposition either does not understand or does not wish to understand—and frankly, they fear it. They fear because we have not limited this to environmental cleaning; we will rebuild society and ethics too. When ethics and society advance, the Opposition’s space in a corrupted order diminishes.

¶ 03 A citizen told me: “We began Clean Sri Lanka at the last Presidential Election on 21 September; we cleaned by voting out the corrupt and unethical.” Indeed, the people started Clean Sri Lanka through the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. Those afraid of this now try to ridicule it. But we state firmly: we will implement it systematically and complete it—delivering a beautiful life and a prosperous country.

¶ 04 Some try to compress this into “toilet-cleaning.” Clean Sri Lanka is broader than Singapore’s 1968 “Keep Singapore Clean” movement. Ours is a comprehensive plan linking social, ethical and environmental dimensions, under a Presidential Task Force, reviewed by a Secretaries’ Committee, cascading through the State administration down to districts and villages, integrating Government machinery, non-state institutions and citizens.

¶ 05 Socially, we will ensure clean and safe roads, public toilets and sanitation, food quality and safety, disability-friendly cities, and low-noise zones—driving social transformation. Ethically, we will end corruption, enforce laws and regulations, promote behavioural change and human values—respect for persons, rule of law—reversing the grievous moral collapse where teachers were humiliated, journalists and athletes were killed, and exams were cheated. Environmentally, we will halt destruction, restore ecological balance so that wildlife, humans and flora can coexist.

¶ 06 The people have entrusted the NPP with a broad mandate—not only for economic development but to raise societal values. Clean Sri Lanka is a stepwise, structured plan to unify the State apparatus, volunteers, civil society and citizens for that journey. The Opposition fears because the old ways—plundering the environment, bribery, waste, and moral decay—will no longer prevail. We will implement Clean Sri Lanka and deliver a prosperous country and a beautiful life to our people. Thank you.