The opposition says there is no government in the country. For last 21 years when they were running a so called strong government, they couldn’t provide Samurdhi benefits for the deserving families, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said at a meeting held in Homagama yesterday.

“On the other hand, UNP, within just a year after the ‘Ministry of Samurdhi’ had been taken over, has managed to provide Samrudhdhi benefits to 600,000 more families” the Prime Minister added addressing an event organized to give away certificates for 4,500 needy families in the Colombo district.

“In 2015, we inherited a bankrupt country. But the government managed to rebuild the country. Those opponents who couldn’t stomach the development drive are accusing and criticizing the government. “ Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe further said.

“The opposition know that they cannot challenge the government on the development front as we have been carrying out a massive development drive at the village level. Therefore they try to level unfounded allegations against us. We are doing greater development work in the villages which even breaks the record of the UNP Government from 1977-94. When the UNP took over the Ministry of Samurdhi and Social Empowerment, we manage to provide Samurdhi benefits for 600,000 families who deserved but were denied due to various reasons.”

“We managed to rebuild the economy of the country and rescued from the bankruptcy.” The Prime Minister said.

“Our opponents thought we would be completely destroyed with the Easter Sunday Bomb Attack. But, we have the courage and the strength to face any challenge or catastrophe. Therefore, be assured that we will never stop our village level development programmes. “ the Premier said.