2026-02-05 / Second Reading Debate: Institute of Real Estate Professionals Bill, Container Depot Operators Licensing Bill, and Licensing of Shipping Agents Amendment Bill - Member Contributions
The Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen
2026-02-05
## Summary Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen used the debate on the Sri Lanka Real Estate Professionals' Institute Bill to raise concerns about the Mannar–Puttalam road, a B-class RDA road that shortens travel between Jaffna and Colombo by approximately 100 kilometres. He argued that while previous governments under Presidents Rajapaksa, Sirisena, and Wickremesinghe had not permanently closed the road, the current NPP Government's Forest and Wildlife Departments have actively aligned themselves with petitioners in a longstanding court case, effectively seeking its permanent closure under the pretext of conservation. Bathiudeen noted that President Dissanayake had personally promised Mannar residents the road would be reopened, and called on the Ministers responsible for Environment and Roads to urgently convene discussions with MPs from Vanni, Jaffna, and Puttalam to resolve the matter. He warned that permanently closing the road while citing environmental protection, while ignoring the hardship caused to Northern communities and the environmental cost of 100 additional kilometres of travel, would be unjust and inconsistent with commitments made during the election campaign.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity to speak in this debate on the Sri Lanka Real Estate Professionals’ Institute Bill.
While I was absent earlier, Hon. Minister Bimal Rathnayake replied to a question from a Member. His answer on the Mannar–Puttalam road was, in my view, not acceptable. The Mannar–Puttalam road is a nearly century-old B-class road under the RDA. When I was a Minister, we reopened it to public use. Terrorism had closed it when people were expelled from the area. After the war ended in 2009, people returned to their villages—Periyamadu, Mullikulam, Palakkuli, Karadikuli, Marichchukkaddi, etc.
In 2012, without the people’s knowledge, the then Government secretly gazetted Periyamadu (a traditional village) under the Forest Department. Parts of Palakkuli, Mullikulam, Karadikuli, Alakattai, and Kondachchi were also gazetted under Forest or Wildlife. Though I was in Government then, I consistently opposed this and led protests.
Some majority-community clergy, with no connection to Mannar, came there and agitated against resettlement, painting me as someone destroying forests. Media amplified that narrative at the time.
Subsequently, a few persons from the South—unconnected to the road—filed a case to close it. My name was the fourth respondent, together with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Forest Department, and former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, among others. At that time, even the Forest and Wildlife Departments, and the RDA, took the position that the road was a permanent one and public transport should be allowed. Under President Maithripala Sirisena too, the RDA supported reopening. Court cases in Sri Lanka take years.
It was only during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s time—while the case was still ongoing—that the road was closed. Until then, people and vehicles used it. This road shortens travel by 100 km from Jaffna to Colombo, and from Mannar to Puttalam as well. Would any Government do this if the road were in Hambantota, Colombo, or Gampaha?
Neither President Sirisena’s Government, nor President Gotabaya’s, nor President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s, nor President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration closed it permanently. But now, under your NPP Government, the Forest Department and the Department of Wildlife Conservation have gone to Court, aligned themselves with the petitioners, and said, “We agree with this case; please dispose of it,” effectively seeking a permanent closure. This is not a court-ordered closure—it is your Government siding with those who filed the case 15 years ago. That is unjust.
Yesterday was Independence Day. The President spoke elegantly in Independence Square while many Tamils in the North and East marked a “Black Day.” As Muslims, we thought your Government was not racist—this was a positive. But if you now move to close this road permanently “to protect animals” while causing great hardship to people, we cannot accept it.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake himself told the people in Mannar that he would reopen the Mannar–Puttalam road. When Mannar residents protested against wind power projects, he met us at the Presidential Secretariat and asked that we allow that project, promising to develop Mannar. We requested only two things: no more wind power projects in Mannar, and the reopening of the Mannar–Puttalam road. This is not a road for Muslims or Tamils; it is a road of this country. Shortening distances by 100 km reduces transport costs for goods from Jaffna to Colombo and boosts tourism to the area. Do not take a decision that punishes people under the guise of conservation. Consider the environmental costs too of 100 extra km of travel.
I urge the Ministers responsible for Environment and for Roads to urgently summon the MPs of Vanni, Jaffna, and Puttalam for discussions. Many of you made election promises—YouTube will show what you said then versus now. Joining with diaspora agents and petitioners to permanently close this road would be a grave betrayal of our people.
We are not asking to divide the country; we are only asking that the road—almost 100 years old—be reopened. If you close it, how do we answer our constituents? Were we consulted?
Recently, the President visited Puttalam and allocated Rs. 600 million to build a major bund across the Mannar–Puttalam road. Please halt this immediately. If that bund is built, the road will be closed permanently. This wrong decision will cause great harm to the country. Thank you.