Ranawaka revealed that when well-respected members of the Maha Sangha stepped forward to build houses for the affected communities using private donations, their initiatives were stalled by official bureaucracy. He noted that when a leading monk requested permission to construct nearly 300 houses for displaced families, the authorities delayed for months before responding with an official directive asking them to halt private construction and instead divert their donations directly into the government-controlled "Rebuilding Sri Lanka" fund.
The former minister emphasized that despite the state gathering these massive donations into the central fund, official parliamentary records indicate that not a single cent has been spent on actual rehabilitation or reconstruction work so far. He condemned the government's inaction, highlighting that over 31,000 displaced families are still forced to live in temporary tents, exposed to harsh conditions.
Ranawaka further blasted the government's public relations handling of the crisis, stating that while official state narratives and social media campaigns falsely portray the post-disaster recovery as an absolute triumph, the grim ground reality completely contradicts these claims.
