The Hon. (Dr.) Nihal Abeysinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, today the Motions of Condolence are moved on the late Hon. P. Dayaratna, Hon. Gamini Lokuge, Hon. Indradasa Hettiarachchi, Hon. M. H. Cegu Isadean, and Hon. W. B. Ranatunga.

¶ 02 As the current Member of Parliament for Horana, it is my duty and responsibility to express our condolences on the demise of the late former MP Deshabandu Indradasa Hettiarachchi, and especially the condolences of all of us living in Horana, Kalutara and Raigam Korale. He was born on 13th October 1927 at Pokunuwita to Don Henry Pedric Hettiarachchi, a renowned cultivator of tea, rubber and coconut, and to Mary Nona Gunathilaka of Kalubowila. He had five sisters and two brothers, received primary education at Kulupana Junior School and secondary at Nalanda College, Colombo. He married Sirimani Hettiarachchi in 1950 and had three children: Dasarath, Malkanthi and Manthinda.

¶ 03 Even before finishing school, in 1948 he contested and won a seat in the Village Committee of Kumbukapattuwa, Horana, and a year later was elected its Chairman, serving 13 years. Invited by Dudley Senanayake, he contested the March 1960 General Election for Horana from the UNP but did not win; he also contested July 1960 and again did not win. In 1977 he won Horana.

¶ 04 Under the 1978 Constitution, he was appointed Kalutara District Minister, and in 1985 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Ports and Shipping. In 1989 he again won Horana and served as Minister of Coconut Industries and Crop Diversification until the end of that Government. In 1994 he retired from active politics and in 2005 received the national honour Deshabandu. He passed away on 11th January 2025 at the age of 96. We believe he is among the longest-lived politicians in our country, and we regard him as the Member who most contributed to the development of Kalutara District, especially Horana and Raigam Korale.

¶ 05 During his tenure, he accomplished many notable services. He spent 46 years in political life, about 17 years representing this Parliament for Horana. As Deputy Minister of Ports and Shipping, he initiated the Port Workers’ Bank. As a Patron of the Kalutara Bodhi Trust, he greatly supported religious activities and launched the novice monk sponsorship project to uplift monastic education. He obtained State support and Parliamentary approval to develop Dhamma schools in our district. He helped secure a new theatre complex for the Kalutara Nagoda Hospital. He initiated a 10,000-acre smallholder tea development programme based in Agalawatta and Kuran. He pioneered Horana Royal College, the present President’s College, Prajapathi Balika Vidyalaya, Sri Palee Primary School, and the Sri Palee Campus of the University of Colombo. He intervened to build the Halwathura Bridge across the Kalu Ganga.

¶ 06 He established numerous model villages in the Horana electorate – Rathmalgama, Nimalagama, Arunagama, Sirimewangama, Mawigama, among others. He provided housing under aid schemes to the homeless, expanded electrification and established sub-stations, and implemented the Dikhenepura middle-class housing scheme. He worked to establish the present Bodilines Total plant at Partharamunagolla and Waturugala, and brought three garment industrial parks to Horana. In 1989 he founded the Janasetha Foundation and through it established the Pradeepa Library, which still serves the people.

¶ 07 He also did much to develop the cooperative movement in our district.