The Hon. Presiding Member

¶ 01 We draw special attention to the measures that must be taken. Hon. Mulasenarusu, in recent times some people have been saying things that ignore what our people experienced. They are trying to exploit the prevailing situation to make a mockery of people’s lives.

¶ 02 Hon. Mulasenarusu, those who are now making jokes while people suffer were the very parties that joined together and took over the economy in 2015. They governed together. In 2015, growth was 5 percent. By the time they left in 2019, it had fallen to negative 2 percent. In 2022, we faced a serious economic crisis and declared the country bankrupt. Why? Because we could not service US$38–39 billion of debt. Most of that was international sovereign bonds—US$15 billion worth. During the period when the economy was bankrupted, US$12.5 billion out of those US$15 billion were taken. That is how they “built” the economy—by paving the way to bankruptcy and plunging our people into the abyss. Today, those very people comment on a government that is carefully managing a crisis of global scale. Our intelligent people see through this, Hon. Mulasenarusu.

¶ 03 What is this crisis? They even tried to misstate when it began—saying June—when in fact it erupted on 28 February 2026. If that were so, then the Middle East, including Iran—known as Iran since 1935—has seen such crises before: in the 1950s; during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, there was war. If crises were constant, they should have planned during their time too. Yet what did they do for our energy security? We could not stock a month’s fuel, nor a week’s gas. Trincomalee has 99 oil tanks—each holding 10,000–12,000 metric tons—yet they were not refurbished. Some pipelines had gone decades without maintenance. They governed like that and cast darkness over people’s lives. I regret hearing them speak like this today, Hon. Mulasenarusu.

¶ 04 What did we do as a government? When this problem emerged on 28 February, we considered what to do if it prolonged. The President submitted a special Cabinet paper and established programs to ease the situation and minimize the impact on people’s lives. Under that, we set up four main committees and are carefully studying the situation and taking necessary measures. One committee, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, focuses on ensuring uninterrupted energy supply. Without uninterrupted supply, people’s lives suffer. Global oil and gas prices are rising. A substantial share of our power—roughly 500–600 metric tons per day—comes from diesel generation, which needs fuel. About 40 percent of our transport runs on fuel. If we cannot ensure continuous fuel supply, people’s lives are affected. Therefore, a special Cabinet subcommittee continuously intervenes to assure uninterrupted energy, and we have been delivering that, Hon. Mulasenarusu.

¶ 05 We have not imposed a single day of power cuts. Under their time, at times there were 16-hour power cuts per day. Even amid this global crisis, we are providing uninterrupted power. When the issue arose on 28 February, people, understandably alarmed, drew extra fuel, causing brief disruptions. Within 2–3 days we resolved them. Today, the energy supply to the people is secured.

¶ 06 We also appointed a committee under Hon. Bimal Rathnayake to prevent disruptions to essential goods and services—food and transport—by bringing together ministry secretaries, officials, and experts. We ensured continuous supply and minimized the impact on people’s lives.

¶ 07 A third committee, under the Hon. Prime Minister, ensured uninterrupted public services: from Divisional and District Secretariats, local authorities and ministries, even amid the energy issue. To conserve energy, we briefly gave government staff one day per week off; within a few days we rescinded it and restored full services. Universities, schools, and all services have been continuously reviewed by that committee to ensure uninterrupted delivery.

¶ 08 A fourth committee, appointed by the President and chaired by me, examined how the international crisis affects specific social groups and communities. We engaged two universities for studies, drew on experts and officials, worked day and night, and identified priority vulnerable groups. Based on this analysis, the President yesterday announced the relief package for those groups. We solved fuel access for those unable to use QR codes—small machinery users, unregistered special-needs vehicles, small agro-processors—through Divisional Secretariats.

¶ 09 Considering the economic crisis’s impact on livelihoods, we are providing Rs. 100 billion in relief for the people, Hon. Mulasenarusu. While we know issues exist in the social registry used to target extreme poor, poor and transitional groups, about 70 percent of data is usable at national level, and we will refine it.

¶ 10 Question put.

¶ 11 Please conclude, Hon. Minister.