The Hon. M. Nizam Kariapper, PC

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member. I must raise a few matters regarding my area. In the Kalmunai Municipal Council limits, we have long needed a pavilion at the Sandankeni Sports Ground; we have managed to complete that through the Municipal Council. We also wanted a swimming pool for the Tamil and Muslim youth and students in the area. The foundation was laid in 2018 at the request of our then MP. It has been seven years; the works are nearing completion, but we face a problem to bring it into use.

¶ 02 Hon. Minister, the Sandankeni swimming pool began with an allocation of Rs. 53 million. After many difficulties over seven years, it is now in the final stage, but cannot be commissioned due to an electricity supply issue. The transformer capacity in the area is insufficient; a dedicated transformer is required, needing about Rs. 4 million more. Roughly Rs. 60 million has already been spent. I respectfully request an additional Rs. 4 million to complete and commission the pool.

¶ 03 The students of Kalmunai—Tamil and Muslim—are largely poor. They cannot afford significant user fees. Swimming is vital for health. Please provide this facility affordably.

¶ 04 Relevant Sports Ministry officials are here in the State Officers’ Gallery. About Rs. 4 million is needed for a special transformer; kindly allocate and complete it.

¶ 05 A further point: in the 2025 Estimates under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, I saw that Rs. 150 million has been allocated to complete an indoor sports arena in Kalmunai—adjacent to the pool site, with some columns already erected since 2017. Thank you for this allocation. I have a special request: please ensure that within that indoor complex there are dedicated, separate facilities—such as a badminton court—specifically for girls and women in the area, who otherwise face cultural and practical barriers to participate in sport.

¶ 06 Now to the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development. The greatest challenge for entrepreneurs nationwide is access to start-up capital. Many small entrepreneurs have loans from private banks and face parate execution. The previous government granted a moratorium; this government extended it to 31 March. Will the government extend it further and continue the suspension of parate executions?

¶ 07 Hon. Presiding Member, I understand I have two minutes remaining.