Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

Hon. Bimal Rathnayake raised a procedural matter requesting the Speaker's intervention regarding compliance with guidelines governing responses to questions under Standing Order 27(2). He noted that the guidelines, approved on 18th November, stipulate that answers should be delivered within five minutes, but that the response given that day by Hon. Anil Jayantha significantly exceeded this limit. He requested that the Speaker instruct all Ministries and Secretaries to adhere to the prescribed guidelines and that the guidelines be formally circulated.

Hon. Bimal Rathnayake acknowledged the significant public importance of COPE's findings and, speaking on behalf of the Government, called for a dedicated parliamentary debate day to allow the COPE Chair to present the report's matters for fuller analytical discussion. He formally moved that the report be printed.

The Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and Leader of the House, Hon. Bimal Rathnayake, made a brief procedural motion requesting that the said Reports be printed.

Minister Bimal Rathnayake responded to a parliamentary question regarding expressway access for the Millaniya, Kalutara North, and Bulathsinhala areas. He confirmed the matter had been previously discussed at the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Infrastructure and Strategic Development on 11 December 2025, and clarified that residents in these areas can access the expressway network via the Gelanigama and Dodangoda Interchanges, with future access planned through the Ingiriya Interchange on the proposed Ruwanpura Expressway. Regarding the Millaniya Investment Zone — a Board of Investment of Sri Lanka proposal that had necessitated expressway access and associated land acquisition — the Minister stated that funding for the project has been suspended and no further land acquisition is currently taking place.

Hon. Bimal Rathnayake made a brief procedural motion proposing that Hon. Kitnan Selvaraj assume the Chair during the parliamentary session.

The Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and Leader of the House, Hon. Bimal Rathnayake, moved the formal procedural motion for Parliament to adjourn, with the question subsequently proposed for consideration by the House. This is a standard parliamentary procedure to conclude the sitting.

## Summary Minister Rathnayake reported on post-Cyclone "Michaung" infrastructure recovery, stating that approximately 1,200 km of the 1,700 km railway network was restored within three months, with critical support from the tri-forces, Indian military units, and medical teams from India and Japan; the Peradeniya bridge collapse is being addressed in partnership with the University of Peradeniya and CECB, with Kochchikade services targeted for resumption by 14 April, and 99% of RDA roads and bridges have been returned to trafficable condition. Addressing the previous day's attempted railway strike, the Minister clarified that training approximately 20 military personnel as reserve drivers was a contingency resilience measure and not intended to replace railway workers or suppress union action, emphasising that the Government had not deployed forces against prior strikes. He expressed regret that the industrial action disrupted Ordinary Level examination candidates and apologised to students and parents, noting that train services had resumed normally and that the Government had recruited 190 new railway drivers—the first intake in seven to eight years—as part of broader public service restoration efforts.

Minister Bimal Rathnayake moved parliamentary approval of a Special Commodity Levy Order (Gazette No. 2464/14, 25 November 2025) on behalf of the Prime Minister and Minister of Education, and also tabled additional Orders under the Special Commodity Levy Act, Customs Ordinance, and Motor Traffic Act. The Minister then outlined several transport sector initiatives, including gazette notifications extending driving licence renewal deadlines for those affected by Cyclone "Michaung" and permitting foreign licence renewals at Bandaranaike International Airport for a fee of Rs. 45,000. He announced forthcoming regulations under the National Transport Commission Act covering three-wheelers, taxis, school vans, and office vans, alongside narcotics and alcohol testing for drivers using a mobile laboratory, citing approximately 2,700 road deaths in 2025. The Minister further reported progress on seat belt enforcement, the introduction of bank card payment systems for bus fares with negotiated commission waivers from international card schemes, and the near-clearance of a backlog of approximately 490,000 driving licence cards, with standard and one-day services expected to resume by mid-March 2026.

Hon. Bimal Rathnayake briefly acknowledged a request made by Hon. Chamara Sampath of the Opposition, who had asked him to "set the Opposition Leader in order." Rathnayake accepted the request and indicated his intention to do so going forward. The speech was extremely brief and procedural in nature, containing no substantive policy arguments or proposals.

## Summary Hon. Bimal Rathnayake made a brief procedural remark asserting that the House was adhering to its scheduled timetable for debate. He attributed responsibility for any issues regarding the use of debate time to the Leader of the Opposition rather than the Speaker, though a portion of his remarks was expunged by order of the Chair.