The National Building Research Institute Bill, scheduled to be taken up for its second reading in Parliament on 23.09.2025, was considered and approved by the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection. This took place at the meeting of the Committee in Parliament on the 11th under the Chairmanship of Member of Parliament (Dr.) Najith Indika.

Although the National Building Research Organization has been functioning since 1984, it has not yet been established by an Act of Parliament. Therefore, the proposed Bill seeks to provide the Organization with legal status in order to properly fulfil the duties, responsibilities, and services entrusted to it. Officials, making submissions before the Committee, stated that in instances where Local Government institutions fail to adhere to the recommendations issued by the Organization with regard to landslides, once this proposed Bill is passed, it would be possible to take legal action in that respect.

In addition, during this meeting, the Annual Reports of the National Building Research Organization for 2022 and 2023 and the Performance Reports of the Ministry of Defence for 2023 and 2024 were also taken up for consideration. The Committee inquired regarding the matters highlighted in the Performance Report with respect to the number of firearms provided for the protection of crops from wild animals. Responding officials stated that steps have been taken to collect complete information at the District level and compare it with the information of the Ministry.

Following these discussions, the Committee considered and approved the reports.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister Major General (retd.) Aruna Jayasekara, and Members of Parliament Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam, Mujibur Rahman, Thushari Jayasingha, Attorney-at-Law, M.K.M. Aslam, Major General (retd.) G.D. Sooriyabandara, and Darmapriya Wijesinghe.