Hon. Jagath Vithana

Hon. Jagath Vithana formally presented two petitions to Parliament on behalf of two constituents: Mrs. K.T. Amarawathi of Mathugama and Mr. M.N.M. Fasmin of Darga Town. No further details regarding the subject matter of the petitions were disclosed in the speech.

The Speaker formally tabled multiple Auditor-General's Reports covering financial years 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, in accordance with constitutional requirements. This was a procedural action to officially place the reports before Parliament for the record.

The Speaker informed the House that on 17 February 2026, he had endorsed certificates for three Acts under Article 79 of the Constitution: the Licensing of Container Depot Operators Act, the Licensing of Shipping Agents, Ship Brokers, Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers and Container Operators (Amendment) Act, and the Parliamentary Pensions (Repeal) Act. He also announced that following the resignation of Hon. Anura Karunathilaka from the Select Committee investigating the release of 323 containers from the Port of Colombo without mandatory physical inspection, Hon. (Dr.) Upali Pannilage had been nominated as a replacement under Standing Order 106. Additionally, the Speaker notified all members of the Committee on Parliamentary Business of a meeting scheduled for that afternoon in Committee Room No. 2.

## Summary Hon. Jagath Vithana raised concerns about the inappropriately sited solid waste management centre serving the Matugama Pradeshiya Sabha, which he states is causing severe health and environmental harm to residents of Athulathmudaligama. He directed four questions to the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, seeking urgent remedial action on issues including noxious odours, pest proliferation, road obstruction from accumulated garbage, and potential contamination of a community water well adjacent to the site. He further highlighted that approximately 20,000 children across five schools are located within 600 metres of the dump, and called on the Minister to conduct a site inspection and arrange through the Land Reclamation Commission (LRC) the urgent allocation of suitable alternative land for proper waste disposal, noting that adequate LRC land is available in the area.

Hon. Jagath Manuwarna spoke in support of the Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority Bill, arguing that regulation is urgently necessary to address the harms caused by an estimated 10,000–15,000 unregistered informal lending institutions operating without proper procedures. He cited alarming statistics, including 2.8 million microloan borrowers (2.4 million of them women) and approximately 170 reported suicides in 2019 linked to microfinance-related distress, a figure he believes has since doubled following the 2022 economic crisis. He addressed concerns that the legislation would affect community welfare organisations such as village death-benefit and farmers' societies, clarifying that the Bill targets commercial microfinance operators rather than voluntary community institutions, and noted that abusive debt collection practices—including confinement, intimidation, and sexual violence—have contributed directly to borrower suicides. He concluded that the Bill is essential to create a legal framework protecting both borrowers and lenders and to halt exploitative lending practices targeting the rural poor, plantation workers, and conflict-affected women in the North and East.

The Speaker tabled the Auditor-General's Report for the financial year 2024, comprising multiple volumes and parts (Volume I, Parts XXXVI, XXXVIII–XLI, and Volume IV, Parts XXI–XXIV), in accordance with Article 154(6) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. This was a procedural act of laying official audit documents before Parliament.