The Hon. Aruna Panagoda

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today we debate the Committee Stage of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation. The country is in a disaster situation. This morning the Hon. President came to Parliament, discussed with the Leader of the Opposition, opposition and government MPs, and made important decisions to face this situation. Teams have been dispatched to affected districts to make necessary arrangements. At 2.00 p.m. today there will be a Party Leaders’ meeting to take decisions to swiftly provide facilities and relief.

¶ 02 But some say “go to the village,” “go to the fields.” We come to Parliament from the villages and fields. Those who say so have not visited villages or fields. I have never seen the Leader of the Opposition in a field, except the unfortunate incident during the last election when he with difficulty went with a stick; I have never seen him in a paddy field.

¶ 03 How many in the Government benches are actual farmers? Namal Karunaratne, Sudath Balagalla, T.B. Sarath, and Susantha Kumara Nawarathna—all are farmers who come from the fields. The Opposition Leader, staying in Colombo, could not go to the fields; but these people come from the fields—please remember that.

¶ 04 Colombo District is also an agricultural district. But in the past, some Presidents said the Western Province does not need agriculture and should fill paddy fields. We reject that. As a government, we are now creating the environment and plan to uplift agriculture in Colombo. In my district, there are nine Agrarian Service Centers and five small tanks. Officials were not properly recruited, tanks not maintained, and reserves not protected. In my electorate, in Matthegoda, a reserve has been occupied for years. The responsible persons must be identified. Dept. of Survey officials were lacking when decisions were to be made. In this Budget we have allocated funds and decided to recruit Survey Department officials to rectify these issues.

¶ 05 In this Budget, the Opposition including its Leader did not present constructive critiques. Instead, they speak of containers and a police report.

¶ 06 The Opposition Leader said he learned that a circular has gone astray and should be withdrawn. We think the Opposition Leader has gone astray. We say wayward circulars should be corrected; the Opposition Leader should not be withdrawn—he should remain here, always a refuge for the Opposition.

¶ 07 We discuss a large Ministry to develop agriculture. All these subjects are under one Minister—Hon. Lal Kantha. In the past, there were many ministers even for coconuts and eggs; the Ministry’s core was sidelined and separate State Ministries were created for eggs and milk—this wasted public funds.

¶ 08 Hon. Ranjith Madduma Bandara said agriculture has collapsed, poverty among farmers has increased, and in 30 years 30 percent of farmers fell into poverty. Under your interventions with many ministers, public funds were wasted, lands distributed to cronies, and the Ministry was dragged down. We, as a government, have recognized these issues and allocated a large sum this year to change the situation.

¶ 09 I heard accusations regarding export crops like pepper. I want to say that in 1984, former Minister P. Dayaratna freed 40 acres—an LRC agri-industrial land—in my Homagama electorate without basis, for Rs. 561,000. I am glad the Opposition Chief Organizer is here—but he is not here now. Though freed in 1984 without an agri-industrial basis, in 2017, during his tenure as Lands Minister, he removed even the agri-industrial basis, making it free for any use. When we took over, it had become a land sale; 40 acres of pepper for ministers and political cronies to use privately. Then they come here to lecture us. This is the disgrace that befell our agriculture—dragging it down, undermining production and exports, and destroying cultivation on state lands.

¶ 10 Therefore, we are now gathering proposals, engaging farmers on the ground, and creating an environment to rectify this. The young generation is leaving agriculture; we must change this by engaging young agri-entrepreneurs and introducing new technology—creating the right mindset. In this Budget, we have allocated significant funds for this.

¶ 11 As a government, we must reverse the environment that pushed farmers out of their profession and re-establish a progressive agri-industrial system. With Hon. Lal Kantha and the Ministry, we are working to change this. The Hon. President has allocated funds to make strong interventions. We all will intervene to correct this, and I thank you for the time.