Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya told Parliament yesterday (6) that the State of Public Emergency has been extended by a further month solely to facilitate urgent interventions needed to restore the country following the widespread devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Participating in the parliamentary debate on extending the emergency regulations, the Prime Minister stressed that the Government will under no circumstances use emergency powers to suppress the media or any section of society.
She said Cyclone Ditwah had caused unprecedented damage to national infrastructure, particularly roads and bridges, while a large number of schools require rebuilding or relocation. The country has also experienced landslides on an unprecedented scale, with the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) reporting around 1,300 landslides so far.
Dr. Amarasuriya noted that the scale of damage and increased risks posed by landslides have placed an extraordinary burden on the State, requiring rapid mobilisation of human resources and materials to carry out recovery and mitigation work across affected regions.
“The need to extend the state of emergency arises only from this situation and not due to any other reasons,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the emergency regulations are being used mainly to maintain essential services and to appoint the Commissioner General of Essential Services.
She emphasized that the Government’s sole objective is to efficiently and swiftly restore affected areas and help communities return to normalcy, and that the extension of the State of Public Emergency was presented to Parliament strictly for that purpose.
