The Hon. Chathura Galappaththi

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am glad to speak on Clean Sri Lanka. From the President’s inaugural address outlining this programme up to now, I have listened closely. Government Members often say the Opposition sees it wrongly. I ask: from all speeches thus far, we have no issue with the objectives; the question is not the vision, mission or purpose. The issue is: what is the concrete implementation plan to achieve these goals?

¶ 02 For example, we saw city and beach cleanups launched ceremonially, like a one-day shramadana. But what happens next? How is maintenance ensured? There seems to be no follow-through plan.

¶ 03 Another example from our Coordination Committees: beyond the launch, how do we stop illegal dumping, how do we separate waste and aggregate it properly? We do not see the operational plan for overcoming these challenges. Let me suggest a simple approach: use school environmental brigades, scouts and the environmental police to guard frequent illegal dumping points continuously for, say, a month; sustained presence or other measures can break entrenched habits. People used to dumping in certain spots can change behavior if those places are consistently guarded. These are simple but practical steps—this is the kind of plan we seek. There is no dispute about the project’s merit; the entire nation wants a Clean Sri Lanka.

¶ 04 We know similar programmes exist elsewhere. In Singapore, to curb littering, they launched the “Singapore Green Plan” in 1992; today it has evolved, contributing to dengue control, public toilet cleanliness, waste minimization and recycling, making Singapore clean—because they had a clear plan. India launched “Swachh Bharat” in 2014 to end open defecation, building 100 million toilets by 2021 and improving child health. Through “Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0,” they are progressing urban waste management. My point: those initiatives had specific, structured implementation plans and targets.

¶ 05 Clean Sri Lanka goes beyond environmental cleanliness to moral and social cleanliness—a very good thing, broader than those examples. Yet that breadth itself creates public uncertainty: what exactly is the plan to deliver outcomes? The concept paper suggests creating parallel grassroots structures—Clean Sri Lanka village committees—whereas implementation should primarily be via the lowest administrative tier: local authorities. Historically, when each new Government created ad hoc village committees for programmes, they rarely succeeded at ground level because they lacked proper statutory anchoring. If we utilize the existing local authority-based village committees, we can get results.

¶ 06 I also offer proposals to the Government. On Provincial Council elections, if we want a clean country, we must also have a clear country. Our present electoral system concerns me—I rose from local authority to Provincial Council to Parliament, but the current mixed system for local authorities raises doubts about achieving intended goals. While I believe you will hold elections promptly, please do what is best for the country; the people have given you unprecedented strength. Personally, I support returning to the old proportional representation system, for reasons I can elaborate if allowed a debate.

¶ 07 People supported this Government enthusiastically. Yet today many struggle even to afford daily meals. However worthy Clean Sri Lanka is, when stomachs are empty, messages don’t register. Two kilos of rice and two coconuts now cost about Rs. 1,000; daily wage earners suffer greatly. The rice issue has become severe.

¶ 08 Please grant me one more minute. Everyone talks about the rice mafia. A prior policy to eliminate it has stalled. Professor Leelananda Rajapaksha of Peradeniya piloted, in 2012, a mechanized aeration storage system for rice—not paddy—using wartime aircraft hangars near Cheyangoda Economic Center, at very low cost. This technology exists to store milled rice. Instead of talking only about paddy storage and milling, we should revive this scalable rice storage to stabilize supply. I request the Government to store rice stocks in such facilities and provide a sustainable solution to the rice problem.

¶ 09 Thank you.