The Hon. Nalin Bandara Jayamaha

¶ 01 Thank you, Madam Presiding Member.

¶ 02 At a time of global war, especially with the Gulf aflame, we must ask how its impact reaches a country like ours and how we maintain our economy and people’s living standards. Amid supply chain disruptions, we must also look for opportunities. Sri Lanka sits strategically between Africa and Australia. As the Middle East and Gulf are disrupted, we must swiftly position our aviation and maritime sectors to serve emerging routes and demands. British Airways resuming Colombo reflects our strategic relevance. If we mobilize quickly, we can serve reconfigured air and sea supply networks—this situation will last more than weeks; even the UAE and Qatar are facing severe economic disruptions, with their major hubs hampered. How can we capture transit and service that is shifting?

¶ 03 On fuel: In the late 1960s, under the SLFP, Esso and Caltex left Sri Lanka; those companies built Jurong Island’s oil hub in Singapore—a country without oil. We lost that opportunity then, but now a new chance exists; not overnight, but with deliberate policy we can re-enter the petroleum market over coming years, leveraging our location.

¶ 04 On LPG: The President said the yellow-cylinder issue will be resolved. Our largest market share is Laugfs, with about 8,000 MT storage, while LAUGFS (export arm) has around 90,000 MT and export capability. If you have now allowed their taxed product into the domestic market, good—but it should have been done earlier.

¶ 05 Act swiftly on needed decisions to manage today’s crisis and to capture benefits from the global turmoil. I saw that Sri Lanka has dropped to 134th in the World Happiness Index—this is serious. We must take decisions, implement changes, and get the stalled machinery moving so our people can smile again.

¶ 06 Lastly, from 1980 for nearly 40 years, Mr. Sisira Kumara served as Telephone Operator in Parliament’s Sergeant-at-Arms Department. We wish him a happy retirement. Thank you.