The Hon. D.V. Chanaka

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I will begin by replying to the Deputy Minister. US$27 million equals Rs. 108 billion. At current diesel prices, losses from just the first eight vessels are around Rs. 30 billion. Total payment for the 17 vessels is US$278 million—about Rs. 20 billion in losses right there. I will leave it at that.

¶ 02 Today I bring an even more serious disclosure. I am glad Hon. T.B. Sarath is present—he represents an agricultural area and this concerns such regions. One of the gravest threats to Sri Lanka’s agriculture is the whitefly. Because of whiteflies, exports like mango and bitter gourd get rejected; certain fungi also lead to rejections. Such pests and fungi typically enter via imports.

¶ 03 On 12 January 2026, a major irregularity and corruption occurred. A company brought 18 containers of chrysanthemum plants. The National Plant Quarantine Service (NPQS) normally inspects these visually. The officer minuted that live insects were visible and rust was present on flowers and leaves. Nevertheless, the Director of Agriculture verbally instructed to retain only containers 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9, and release the remaining 12. Later, samples from the six retained containers were sent to NPQS. The lab result stated: “The tested sample was contaminated with live whitefly...” and “The submitted samples of chrysanthemum spp. were contaminated with Rust disease.”

¶ 04 The recommendation read: “As it is a highly destructive pathogen and can be easily transmitted, it is advised to destroy affected parts under strict sanitary conditions.” Despite this, 12 of the 18 containers had already been released into the country.

¶ 05 Under the Plant Protection Act, No. 35 of 1999—Regulation 90—any detection of live insects requires mandatory destruction of the consignment. Yet, despite visual detection, 12 containers were released. This was not an isolated event. Thirty-six officers have signed and informed the Minister and the Ministry. Still, over eight consignments totaling more than 100 containers from the same company were allowed to leave into the country. This is how diseases enter our crops—despite NPQS orders to destroy.

¶ 06 I hereby table all related laboratory reports.

¶ 07 To our people: if your crops have developed rust‑type blights or you find whiteflies, note that these could have entered via those January imports. Please report such cases to us; we will pursue legal action.

¶ 08 Meanwhile, the rupee has fallen a further Rs. 12 against the dollar today—Rs. 8 yesterday, Rs. 3 the day before, Rs. 12 today. We do not know what tomorrow brings. While the economy is being wrecked and corruption and crop destruction continue, Sri Lanka has now become the Asian country with the fastest rupee depreciation under this Government. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.