The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation and Leader of the House of Parliament

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, first let me thank Hon. Susantha Kumara Nawarathna for bringing this Adjournment Motion. As per Standing Orders, both Government and Opposition have the opportunity to present such motions. We cannot just rise in the morning only when cameras are on and talk. We have today’s Adjournment Debate. Therefore, a Government Member brought this Motion. It is also not right to jump in mid-debate and, based on a misimpression, criticize the entire Government.

¶ 02 Hon. Rasamanickam, I accept that in seconding the Motion, the needed standard for such an Adjournment discussion may not have been fully observed; we discussed this. But that does not mean we need your “instructions.” President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is a member of the JVP/NPP, but it is not only he who is good and all others bad. No Minister here is a novice. The real issue is that some in the Opposition have a big ego and cannot accept that persons from ordinary families have become ministers. Others in the Opposition are reasonable. Let us proceed to the substance.

¶ 03 The Environment Minister will give a detailed reply. As Transport Minister responsible for Railways, I first express regret and condolences over this tragedy.

¶ 04 We are not elephant experts. But regarding elephant–train collisions, we discussed this on December 9, December 30, and January 3 with railway officials, asking them to identify hotspots and propose solutions. Some proposed flyovers—too costly. We said, park costly options for later; first engage communities for solutions. There are about 10 villages where most crossings occur; these are known to the Environment Ministry and Railways.

¶ 05 At Gal Oya, between mileposts 133 and 141, elephant crossing points are well marked. On three occasions, we asked Railways to involve residents of those 10 villages to implement measures. The NPP has many volunteers; together with villagers and Grama Niladharis, if there is a herd near the track, inform the train drivers via the station masters promptly. We truly regret this incident. Railways is a 160-year-old department. Because there was no proper response, on January 8 our Ministry Secretary wrote to the General Manager of Railways; the reply came on February 6 stating that after clearing vegetation on both sides, there had been no elephant collisions so far on the Mannar line. Then this incident happened yesterday morning. Yesterday evening, together with the Environment Minister, we gathered all officials and identified a number of key actions—he will elaborate.

¶ 06 There is no rocket science here; the knowledge exists, but actions were delayed or not taken. We intervened immediately yesterday and took several measures; the Environment Minister will detail them. We commit to do our utmost to prevent elephant deaths due to trains. Thank you.