The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chair, during the last election some fine words were said—“fire for the belly, fire for the heart, belts for the waist... your turn has come.” A turn has come indeed—but it seems a turn to cut, not to deliver. The show has begun.

¶ 02 The President presented a handsome Budget yesterday. A proper “butter President”—applying butter nicely. After King Cetiya Rajjuruwo, we cannot complain: we have a “butter President.” He applied the butter well and presented a proper butter Budget. Fine.

¶ 03 But there are things we in the Opposition need to understand. The Budget Book says 30,000 jobs will be given in the public service, and Rs. 10,000 million allocated. I do not know how 30,000 jobs are to be given with Rs. 10,000 million, and how salaries will be paid.

¶ 04 [Interjections by Hon. Bimal Rathnayake.]

¶ 05 Do not worry; we will state the figures when you divide it. With Rs. 10,000 million, we do not know how 30,000 jobs are to be given. The Government side also said the minimum salary for a Development Officer is Rs. 60,000 now. If so, with Rs. 60,000 salaries, how is this to be paid? Let me speak; then during your reply, explain your method. You have allocated Rs. 10,000 million and say you will give this much; show us how Rs. 60,000 can be paid.

¶ 06 Next point: the President nicely said the Mahapola stipend will be increased by Rs. 2,500. Many here are from the University of Kelaniya. It is not sad—but it should be increased by more than Rs. 2,500. Because the people who ate chili powder and tear gas to form this Government were mostly university students. Mahapola is Rs. 7,500 and the student stipend is Rs. 6,500. Today a child traveling from Badulla to university spends about Rs. 2,000 on a bus; even on a normal bus, Rs. 1,500. So these stipends should be increased further.

¶ 07 Another matter: now benefits are increased for “those people” there; give something also to the backbench MPs. Even if you do not give us, fine. We will not be jealous if you give those at the back; go ahead.

¶ 08 Now, dry-ration parcels of Rs. 10,000 are to be given—containing sprats, dhal, onions, canned fish. Rs. 1,000 million is allocated for 100,000 parcels. A Rs. 10,000 parcel is not enough now; at least Rs. 15,000 should be given. Then only 66,000 parcels can be given. There are 14,500 GN divisions. That comes to five parcels per GN division. Do not go giving five parcels per GN division; elections are coming. If you take five parcels there, the rest will get angry. It will be a blunder. Also, at current prices, you cannot fill a parcel with sprats, dhal, sugar, fish for Rs. 10,000; even a little rice must be included. It will cost Rs. 15,000. So this is very difficult to implement fairly.

¶ 09 Next, we had given Rs. 2,500 to preschool teachers. This Government has not looked after them; you have increased only by Rs. 1,000. The previous Government gave Rs. 2,500 in two tranches. You should have added another Rs. 1,500; these are poor people. Often, samurdhi beneficiaries receive more than preschool teachers. It seems the Government has not looked properly at them.

¶ 10 Next, the total allocation for development under the Budget is Rs. 11,250 million: Rs. 2,250 million for 225 MPs, and Rs. 9,000 million for districts under DCB proposals. Then, per district, it will be around Rs. 300 million or less; for Badulla maybe Rs. 500 million. There are 564 GN divisions in Badulla. Previously, I obtained Rs. 1 billion for the district; I gave Rs. 100 million to some GN divisions and DS divisions. What can be done now with this Rs. 9,000 million nationwide?

¶ 11 Moreover, Rs. 6,000 million is allocated to the North—Rs. 5,000 million for roads and bridges, and Rs. 1,000 million to build the Mullaitivu bridge. We do not oppose giving to the North; give them. But give others fairly too. When all other provinces must share Rs. 9,000 million, the North alone gets Rs. 6,000 million.

¶ 12 A good thing is Rs. 500 million for sports schools. But these schools are allocated to the North and to Basnahira; not to the Wayamba of the Leader of the House, nor to the South. There are champion athletes from those provinces too. I am not going to make grand theories; I am pointing out shortcomings which are useful for all MPs.

¶ 13 Another: under Aswesuma, Rs. 500 million is allocated to empower 25,000 families. That is Rs. 20,000 per family. How can anyone be “empowered” with Rs. 20,000? That is barely the cost of a trip to town. This is a shortcoming. There are many such issues in the Budget document. I checked other details as well.

¶ 14 President Mahinda Rajapaksa did much for Hambantota; I said so even then. Maithripala Sirisena did for Polonnaruwa. Now Anura Kumara Dissanayake appears to be turning towards Anuradhapura/Thambuttegama: Rs. 750 million for the Anuradhapura Hospital facility; Rs. 2,000 million for Huruluwewa and related schemes; Rs. 1,000 million for Eppawala water. Fine—we are happy; but Badulla too needs allocations. I am proud of the President; Rs. 100 million to build Thambuttegama Railway Station; funds for Eppawala water—good. But be fair in distribution.

¶ 15 This Budget has good things; I said there are small butterings. It is not all bad. Kidney patients’ provisions are increased; senior citizens’ fixed deposit interest is raised. There are many good things. But President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is skilled at buttering; he buttered his way to seat 159 in Parliament; he even buttered Ranil and got him a role, and Sajith too. A “butter man.” This Budget has both good and bad.

¶ 16 Our Deputy Minister Jayasinghe, the trade union leader, spoke on salaries. I will not go deep; when salaries hit pockets in April, we will know. Now I just received a call from Badulla Hospital that doctors are preparing to walk out—perhaps due to salary issues. I do not know fully; please look into it. Teachers and public servants had great expectations; they gave you 80 per cent of their votes. Do not fail them. People have great expectations. We will study further and raise more issues; if you do not correct shortcomings, what happened to Gotabaya will happen to you. Do the work properly. Thank you.