The Hon. M.L.A.M. Hizbullah

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to join this debate on extending the Emergency. We appreciate the President’s leadership and the full efforts of the Defence Minister, police and tri-forces in curbing narcotics. For these actions, the Emergency can be appropriate. However, in some instances unnecessary arrests are being made. The Public Security Minister and his Deputy should ensure the law is applied properly and only where needed.

¶ 02 After “Ditwah”, when the President consulted all parties in Parliament, we in the Opposition urged immediate Emergency to expedite reconstruction. Indeed, with Emergency, works expected to take years were completed within specified timelines. I commend Hon. Bimal Rathnayake, Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development, for deploying the military to repair RDA and PRDA roads swiftly.

¶ 03 The Supreme Court has now ruled for Kalmunai Municipal Council and Sainthamaruthu Urban Council to function separately. The people of Sainthamaruthu have long sought their own council and have now succeeded. On behalf of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, we congratulate all concerned.

¶ 04 To avoid ethnic tensions, I request that the Kalmunai MC area boundaries be restored as previously — Karaiyivangu South, Karaiyivangu North, and Kalmunai MC delineations — so communities can live in harmony.

¶ 05 Finally, please hand over the land presently occupied by the Eravur Police Station to Aligarh National School, a national school with about 3,000 students lacking adequate buildings, and relocate the police to the suitable land already allocated by Eravur Urban Council.