Full speech delivered by Commander-in-Chief, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addressing the commissioning and passing out parade held at the Trincomalee Naval and Maritime Academy
Our responsibility is not to retreat or remain paralysed in the face of challenges, but to act with firm determination to rebuild the nation.
We express our deep gratitude for the selfless service rendered by the Navy, which fulfilled its duties with the ultimate sacrifice in the face of disaster.
We are resolutely committed to saving the nation from the drug menace for this cause, let us, you and I, stand together and dedicate ourselves.
Although the responsibilities entrusted may differ according to rank, the proper and diligent fulfilment of every such responsibility is essential for a stable state.
First and foremost, I extend my sincere gratitude to you for joining our brave Navy, an institution renowned for its discipline and honour in our country. I also wish you every success in what I hope will be a highly accomplished professional journey. I believe that a great weight of responsibility has now been placed upon your shoulders.
To begin with, your parents are immensely proud that you have chosen such a noble, courageous and disciplined profession. I believe that you are a group of young men and women who have already fulfilled, with great success, the expectations your parents placed in you. They continue to hold even greater hopes for you. That hope is that, by safeguarding the dignity and value of this profession, you will move forward in your careers as children who can make their parents even prouder. Just as your parents do, we too, as a nation, have great expectations of you.
Our country has a coastline of approximately 1,340 kilometres. We are an island nation. We exercise jurisdiction over a maritime area nearly eight times the size of our landmass, and we bear responsibility for surveillance and protection over an area almost twenty-seven times larger. Therefore, the country looks to you. In safeguarding the motherland as well as ensuring the security of the general public, a great responsibility is entrusted to you. We expect that you will carry out this responsibility in a proper and exemplary manner.
We have firm confidence and strong expectations that you will uphold and protect that sense of honour and professionalism.
Our Navy also possesses a proud and illustrious history. In the face of the many challenges our country has encountered, we have a Navy that has made immense sacrifices with great courage in defence of the motherland and in safeguarding the people. You are now joining such a Navy, one that has rendered an unparalleled service to the security of the nation and has played a vital role in protecting the public. Accordingly, the primary responsibility of becoming the future custodians and builders of this proud and distinguished naval legacy is entrusted to you today.
The senior officers present here are watching you closely. They have a firm belief and strong confidence that you will accept, with honour and pride, this Navy which they have built with great dedication and esteem and that you will carry it safely forward into the future. Therefore, you are not merely entering a profession. You are entering a profession that carries an immense responsibility towards our country and its people.
At present, we are facing a number of challenges. On the one hand, there are challenges on the economic front. On the other, there are challenges in ensuring the supremacy of the rule of law. There are also challenges in curbing social crime. In addition, when our country is struck by disasters, there are challenges related to rescuing affected persons and providing them with a safe and secure life. As a nation, therefore, we are living through a period in which we are confronted with multiple challenges.
In particular, we all know that in recent times our country fell into a severe economic crisis. You, I, our parents, relatives and friends all suffered greatly as a result of that economic crisis. Some people died while standing in queues. Some professionals left the country. That economic collapse began to spread across every sector of our nation. However, at present, although gradually, our economy is being rebuilt in a highly structured and disciplined manner.
In particular, 2025 has recorded the lowest budget deficit since 1977. It has also become the year with the highest government revenue since 2006. At the same time, we had set targets to make this the year with the highest inflow of foreign remittances and the largest number of tourist arrivals. It was at such a moment that we were compelled to face a major disaster caused by floods and storms. We understand that this disaster was a powerful blow dealt to an economy that we were steadily and systematically rebuilding.
However, our responsibility is not to flee or to live in fear and despair in the face of such a tragedy and challenge. The responsibility we all share is to act with firm resolve to rebuild this motherland once again.
I believe that, in this regard, the role played, and the role entrusted, to our Navy has been immense. During this disaster, we came perilously close to losing a very large number of lives. At that moment, our heroic armed forces intervened decisively. Near the Kala Oya, close to sixty-nine people were stranded on the roof of a bus. They were caught in a struggle between life and death. For more than eighteen hours, amid severe flooding, violent storms and heavy rain, our citizens endured terrifying experiences on that roof, fearing for their lives.
They continued to instil courage, hope and confidence in the civilian population so that they could survive. Furthermore, in order to carry out the rescue, emergency boats and a specially trained team were dispatched from Trincomalee in a truck at around 3.30 a.m. They played a major role in rescuing the people, risking their own lives. Similarly, while engaged in rescue operations near the lagoon mouth in Chundikulam, we lost five of our officers.
Thus, even these recent examples alone demonstrate the greatness and honour of the profession you are entering today. Even at this very moment, in areas affected by landslides and floods, and in extremely dangerous locations, our heroic officers are engaged in immense efforts to restore life to our people and to provide the essential infrastructure they require. That is why I say to you again and again: you are joining a highly honourable, heroic and professional armed force.
Today, the foremost challenge we face as a nation is the drug menace. We are an island. Drugs can enter our country only by air or by sea. If we are to free our nation from this menace, we must put an end to the flow of drugs into our country through both air and sea.
We know that this drug network is not merely a collection of individual drug dealers. It is a highly organised criminal network. They possess weapons. They command vast financial resources. They have links with international criminal syndicates. For a period of time, they also maintained close political connections. The financial power they accumulated enabled them to buy over weak officials within our state machinery. Such a widespread drug network exists in our country.
I believe that, in dismantling this drug network, we, as a government, together with the police and the tri-forces, are acting with great commitment. As a state, we have taken a firm decision to save our nation from this disaster that is destroying our younger generation.
I am able to make that declaration because of the confidence I place in you. You are the ones who safeguard the seas. You are the ones who intercept drugs brought ashore from the sea. I know that in recent times, under the leadership of our Navy Commander, all officers have worked together to carry out a large number of major operations. In recent history, it has been possible to seize substantial quantities of drugs continuously. However, the task is not yet complete.
Therefore, this drug menace, this scourge, must be brought to an end. Our nation must be freed from it. As the political authority, we are prepared to do everything within our power to achieve this. In that effort, you have a particularly significant role to play. Let us work together to free our motherland from this disaster. We look to you for your contribution.
We each have different responsibilities. As President, I have responsibilities entrusted to me. Our Navy Commander has responsibilities according to his position. You have responsibilities according to your rank. The difference between us lies only in the nature of the responsibilities we bear. Every one of those responsibilities is essential for a stable state. A country can move forward only when everyone properly fulfils the responsibilities entrusted to them.
Therefore, no profession and no responsibility should ever be regarded as secondary. Every responsibility is part of the contribution made towards rebuilding our country. The weight and nature of those responsibilities may differ, but all of us carry responsibilities upon our shoulders. Let us all work together to discharge, properly and conscientiously, the responsibilities entrusted to us. Inviting you to become a newly commissioned officer who fulfils, from today onwards, the responsibility placed upon your shoulders with diligence and integrity, I wish you every success in a victorious professional career.
