Government that came to fix Colombo in six months could not even clean its drains, says opposition leader

The National People's Power government, which came to power promising to fix Colombo in six months, has been unable even to clean the city's drains, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has charged.

In a special statement issued on Sunday (08.11.2026), he said experts point to problems in the drainage system as the reason the entire city of Colombo was submerged during the recent heavy rains. The city's drainage network can handle only 30 to 50 millimetres of rain, and even the mayor has said it must be repaired and properly maintained, he noted.

Although the recent downpour of about 120 millimetres was intense, weather reports record heavier rain in 1992, 2005 and 2016, he pointed out: 493.7 millimetres fell in 1993 and 440.2 millimetres in 2010, yet no such disaster occurred. The failure to upgrade the drainage system and to clear waste from it is what exposed so many people to catastrophe, he said.

Had a United People's Power government been in office, the world's best rainwater drainage systems would have been in use, he claimed, saying a robust integrated system of the kind used in countries such as Singapore - an extensive drainage network, rainwater harvesting, underground storage tanks, pumping and diversion systems and green infrastructure - would suit Sri Lanka.

He also cited the Netherlands' advanced flood management, with underground water storage, large pumping stations, flood barriers and river widening. Using both countries as examples, modern techniques suited to Sri Lanka could be developed to control flooding from heavy rain, he said.

Rather than blaming one another, the need is to prevent this situation from recurring, he stressed, adding that solutions cannot be found by keeping the opposition out. 'The question is why a government with a parliamentary majority could not do these things,' he said, adding that the time has come to strengthen policies that move forward with a genuine vision rather than deceiving people with mere words.