Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, I move: “That the Order made by the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies under Section 2(3) of the Special Commodity Levy Act, No. 48 of 2007, published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2464/14 of 25 November 2025, and presented to Parliament on 05.02.2026, be approved. (The Cabinet approval has been conveyed.)” In addition, I present the Orders at Items 2 and 3 under the Special Commodity Levy Act (Orders No. 2 and No. 3), Item 4 under the Customs Ordinance, and Items 5 and 6 under the Motor Traffic Act (Orders No. 1 and No. 2). Today we have several matters to discuss. The State Minister of Finance will address those related to the Ministry of Finance. I will address those under the Ministry of Transport. First, I earnestly ask that we, as Members of Parliament, speak in accordance with the Standing Orders, using appropriate language. The Hon. Minister earlier gave a clear, detailed answer; turning everything into a morning drama is not appropriate. On transport: We present two Gazette notifications. One grants an extension for renewing driving licences for persons unable to do so between 25 November and 24 December due to Cyclone “Michaung.” The second allows foreigners—previously handled at Werahera—to renew their driving licences also at Bandaranaike International Airport; the fee was adjusted to Rs. 45,000. These Gazettes were approved at the Ministerial Consultative Committee and are now presented to Parliament. We aim to instill discipline in transport, just as we seek discipline in Parliament. Under the National Transport Commission Act, we are introducing regulations for three-wheelers, taxis, school vans and office vans—sectors long without proper regulation, creating issues for operators and the public. Draft regulations are largely complete; we will finalize them after consultations over the next two months. We have also begun testing drivers and conductors for narcotics and alcohol, using a mobile laboratory bus. Preliminary results, working with the College of Forensic Pathologists and senior medical professionals, show significant impairment among some drivers—affecting judgement, reaction time and decision-making—contributing to accidents. In 2025, about 2,700 road deaths occurred; roughly 2,000 involved motorcyclists and pedestrians, often due to the conduct of other impaired drivers. We must enhance driver discipline and control substance abuse to protect innocent road users. We strengthened seat belt enforcement—especially on expressways, including for rear passengers. With the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka and public campaigns, we’ve emphasized that seat belts can reduce severe injury by about 40 per cent. Public awareness is essential. On bus fare payments, card payment systems have already begun. While some propose a separate transport card, that requires a full production and distribution regime. Instead, we are enabling payments via existing bank cards. We engaged not only local banks but also the international mother companies of the two main card schemes operating in Sri Lanka. We can state with satisfaction that one scheme has officially agreed that, for certain transport payments, it will not charge its usual commission; the other scheme has informally reported a similar stance. Thus, bus owners will not bear 1 per cent or more in commissions on card-ticket payments; this will be materially reduced. On driving licence issuance: there was a backlog of about 490,000 cards, accumulated over many years. By the end of this month, we will have cleared it. Thereafter, standard service timelines will apply, and we expect one‑day services to resume by mid‑March. The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) had suffered from corruption and external interference. With legal advice, we have worked through immense difficulties to restore order. Mr. Speaker Hon. Minister, you have two more minutes.