The Hon. Waruna Liyanage

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I have seven minutes, correct?

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation is very important. Although we are under adverse weather and disaster, MPs representing 25 districts are participating in this debate. As an MP for Ratnapura District, I express condolences to families of those who died and regret for property damages. In our district, floods occur about twice a year; we know the harm and the inadequacies in relief and compensation. Our Members spoke on the disaster. Hon. Minister, in Ratnapura there is a shortfall in delivering fertilizer subsidies to paddy farmers. Please ensure proper delivery.

¶ 03 Our district cultivates many minor export crops like cinnamon and pepper. In Kolonna, pepper farmers suffered greatly when yields failed; pepper yields come once a year—if it fails, they face a big problem. They received no compensation.

¶ 04 Tea is in our district, but cinnamon has grown widespread. There is now an issue about the Cinnamon Development Department being merged elsewhere. Prior to last year, cinnamon was our highest export earner. So the department should be strengthened to develop the cinnamon industry. The world’s best cinnamon is from Sri Lanka.

¶ 05 On livestock, a Member said MILCO made Rs. 18,000 million profit and paid dues. If MILCO made such profits, we are happy.

¶ 06 There are many dairy farmers in Ratnapura, mostly estate-adjacent Tamil brethren. They face many issues. Estate managements do not permit shelters or sheds; any new structures are demolished. They raise chickens and cattle for their livelihood. There is much uncultivated land where tea is not grown. In coordination with the Ministry of Plantations and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, we can free these lands. Also, through the LRC under your Ministry, if we can provide land for fodder cultivation to identified dairy farmers, their living standards will improve. In Embilipitiya, dairy depends on buffalo milk, but there is no fodder land, so they go to Udawalawe. If possible, coordinate with LRC and Mahaweli to allocate land for fodder.

¶ 07 Hon. Presiding Member: You have two more minutes.

¶ 08 I have more to say on institutions—please allow a little extra time.

¶ 09 On irrigation: Hon. Minister, the Irrigation Ordinance amendments are pending. At previous committee meetings, we requested amendments. But the Attorney-General’s Department officials did not attend. If you can table and pass it soon, it will strengthen the DG and officials.

¶ 10 On the “dry dam” concept: While the House was in suspension, I proposed a solution. The disaster repeats annually in Ratnapura. While in Opposition, we requested a dry dam for flood control. You have allocated Rs. 500 million for this—thank you. We also need a Planning Division; earlier, the Ministry had one in Matara, now closed. If you can engage CECB for a feasibility report, we can proceed.

¶ 11 During Hon. Chamal Rajapaksa’s time, I contributed to creating the Ellewewa reservoir, and you have allocated another Rs. 1 billion. Once completed, many farmers in Embilipitiya can cultivate paddy with strength.

¶ 12 On LRC: The Ministry of Plantations has filed a case to stop issuing title deeds to private entities; due to not issuing deeds from LRC to Kahawatte Plantations PLC and Balangoda Plantations PLC, children entering school in January will lose 15 marks. Please consider a program for residents on LRC lands so that schools can be provided with letters or a mechanism to avoid penalizing children. I have more to say but time is short. I wish you strength to carry out these tasks.

¶ 13 Thank you.