COLOMBO, Dec 1: Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, the SJB, walked out of Parliament here on Monday to protest the Government’s refusal to extend the session to discuss the aftermath of the Cyclone Ditwah disaster that left over 300 dead.
Kabir Hashim, from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), said they wanted to place on record the lack of preparedness of the Anura Kumara Dissanayake-led government despite pre warnings of severe weather hitting the island.
The National People’s Power (NPP) government said the opposition was free to express themselves till 12.30 pm, as the House was scheduled to have an early end in view of the disaster relief coordination work.
“We need more time to express our ideas where the government had failed, with preparedness we could have prevented a lot of damage,” Hashim said.
Bimal Rathnayaka, the leader of the House, said the government was open to criticism and ideas to handle the crisis and urged the opposition to use the scheduled time till 12.30 pm.
The death toll by 12 pm on Monday stood at 340 and 370 missing. Over 1 million people have been affected from over 300,000 families.
Suburbs north of Colombo are underwater as the River Kelani has reached its dangerous spill level to cause severe damage.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy’s INS Sukanya entered the eastern port of Trincomalee carrying several tonnes of relief supplies, the Sri Lankan Navy said.
India on Monday evacuated its last batch of stranded nationals from Sri Lanka, as New Delhi intensified its assistance to Colombo’s rescue operations.
Under Operation Sagar Bandhu, the last batch of 104 Indian passengers stranded at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo reached Thiruvananthapuram, onboard an IAF aircraft, at around 6.30 am, the Indian High Commission here said in a social media post.
In a press release, the mission said India has intensified its assistance to Sri Lanka’s rescue efforts and expanded operations across several affected regions. (PTI)
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