The Hon. Ramanathan Archchuna (Medical Doctor)

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, this is the month we commemorate the Heroes. I bow to the deities of my nation and begin by recalling history.

¶ 02 Today we debate the 2026 Budget. In a Budget, one should first place something like soft bread — a sandwich method. Let me state some of the good things in your Budget — they are in the speech booklet; please read it.

¶ 03 First, a National Cardiac Institute is proposed. Good! But you have only allocated Rs. 200 million, when Rs. 16,000 million is needed — will you finish it in 10 years?

¶ 04 Second, vehicles for MPs — good! At the end I will answer in Sinhala. Those who said they would take the bus, train, or walk — NPP Members can take bicycles; buy me a six-wheel vehicle!

¶ 05 Third, you speak much of entrepreneurship — good; you increase enterprise. You also speak of public–private partnerships — many of you may not know this; read the Budget speech. PPP is a good concept. You propose resident visas for those abroad to come and invest — I welcome that. Our diaspora will build our Tamil Eelam homeland themselves; you need not pull a single nail — we will. Just give the visa. You also propose a data hub and AI facilities — good. These are all good.

¶ 06 But the NPP said it would catch the corrupt. Let me show you the scale of corruption in our Tamil homeland, based on audit reports. Dr. Ketheeswaran served as RDHS from 14.07.2016 to 14.09.2022; then Dr. Liyanage from 14.09.2022 to 09.05.2023; then Dr. Sathiyamoorthy from 19.05.2023 to 23.04.2024; and now Dr. Saman Pathirana. I hold the Northern Province Health Department’s audit report. You said you would catch the corrupt. I will show with evidence how kickbacks were taken.

¶ 07 In the 2021 Northern Provincial Council audit report it is noted that of 22 projects, approval existed for only 10; the other 10 were done at Point Pedro Hospital without approval by Dr. Ketheeswaran. Work Completion Reports were not given to the Technical Officer for those 10. Accounts related to those works were not produced for audit. Legally an overseeing government engineer should supervise, but instead, an external person was paid Rs. 25,000 per month, totalling Rs. 175,000 — contrary to law — as per the 2021 audit text I am reading.

¶ 08 Further, the current administration’s Dr. Dharshan’s brother’s company, Kamalam Builders, received a Rs. 40 million building contract without Northern Provincial Council approval. Drs. Ketheeswaran and Sathiyamoorthy opened a Commercial Bank account and deposited funds there. A total of Rs. 38,075,405 was deposited; only Rs. 35,319,299 is accounted for; the balance is unaccounted. The audit states there is no record of bids being called for the Rs. 35 million contract. They created a fake “Executive Management Committee” of Base Hospital, Point Pedro — chaired by Dr. Ketheeswaran, treasurer Dr. Dharshan — and funneled money into a private bank. I have the evidence. You said you would catch the thieves — catch them.

¶ 09 The audit references the “Hospital Management Action Committee of Base Hospital, Point Pedro” — but no such registered committee exists. You have been in power a year; corruption in the North is rampant. I can even give the bank account number: Commercial Bank account 8007648515 shows Rs. 3.53 million. From where did that money come? The hospital also received 220 items of equipment from someone as donations; there are no inventory records. Do you now see the failure of your so-called anti-corruption? You boast of catching drugs while this happens.

¶ 10 Turning to your 2026 Citizens’ Budget brochure: total Government expenditure is Rs. 8,980 billion; of that, Rs. 4,495 billion for debt service; Rs. 2,617 billion for interest; Rs. 1,878 billion for principal repayments. You are a beggar Government — you have no money. You say they robbed; they say you robbed. Together you are paying the debts you all took. Apart from debt servicing, only half of total expenditure — Rs. 4,485 billion — goes for development. Multiply by 1,000: Rs. 4,485,000 million. Sri Lanka has nine provinces, including the North and East. How much of this is allocated to the North and East? Nothing. Previously I said 0.06% or 0.04%; now there is nothing. You will not hold Provincial Council elections. During local elections, some of you gave small sums and laid foundation stones; but laying grass on the ground does not make it a ground.

¶ 11 I will now continue briefly in Sinhala. Good day! I apologise for not being present last night — I arrived by flight in the evening and had little sleep, had to send my child to school—

¶ 12 [Interjections and unparliamentary expressions were ordered to be expunged by the Chair.]