Koslanda landslide was a fault of the "suddas".

Building houses on Koslanda Hill .... 
these are mistakes by "sudda" ... 
Except telling where to go when it rains ....
 the government can't make new houses
-- Minister Mahinda Amaraweera
The Minister of Disaster Management, Mahinda Amaraweera called a media briefing after the Koslanda landslide tragedy which occured lately and said that he and other officials knew about this catastrophe in advance and that there were arrangements for it.



He further said that what the "sudda" did by erecting houses on mountain tops that were prone for landslides was a wrong move and that the government has no ability to correct such things, to grant lands or to build houses; and what they could do was to make them aware of the impending situation.

Answers given by the Minister to questions asked in this connection are as follows:

* Did you have a plan for this?
  When the drought was coming to a close .... during the wake of the drought we knew that we had to face floods and landslides. Because of that we planned to face it.

* Why weren't the directions of the Buildings Research Institute go into action?
  Now the mistake that the "sudda" did .... to rectify it, it will take time. It is not in the place where these houses should be built that they have been built. It is not possible to remove these houses instantly too and build houses and give .... there are no such lands either. What we can do is to constantly make them aware.

  These people have also been informed. We had familiarized them that when such rains of such a magnitude comes ... even the places to go. We of course can't do anything more than this no....".

The video tape of the talk, from BELOW