Pond near Parliament to be made more visible to prevent mishaps

By Saman Indrajith

Minister of Irrigation and State Minister of Internal Defence, Home Affairs and Disaster Management, Chamal Rajapaksa informed Parliament, on Saturday, that arrangements had been made to make the pond near the Parliament complex more visible at dusk to prevent mishaps of vehicles plunging into it.

Kurunegala District SJB MP Nalin Bandara raising a point of order said that a bus transporting Parliament staff had veered off into the pond near the Parliament complex on Friday. “Since the pond is not deep, the lives of the passengers were not in danger. During recent times another car with officials plunged into same pond. It was not visible for the drivers when it rained heavily and at night. It was a danger to the lives of Parliament staff members because they had to wait till Parliament was over and it was after night fall that they left.

Matara District MP Buddhika Pathirana: There have been several more similar accidents in the past. I have heard that Matara District MP S.K. Piyadasa also fell into the pond. It should be made visible at night.

Puttalam District SLPP MP Ashoka Priyantha: Drivers who cannot see such a large pond and drive without getting into it should not be allowed to come to the premises. On the other hand, this is a matter that should have been taken up at the House Committee not in the House wasting our time.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena: The driver was not from parliament staff. It was an SLTB bus brought to transport parliament staff.

Minister Chamal Rajapaksa: The matter has already been sorted out. All required officials were summoned this morning and necessary instructions were given to avoid similar mishaps in future.