Services of State institutions should not be neglected due to LG polls: President

President Maithripala Sirisena has stressed that the daily public services of State institutions should not be neglected due to election-related activities.

He emphasised that it was the responsibility of the secretaries of ministries not to allow property resources or vehicles belonging to any State institution to be used for election purposes.

The President gave these instructions to ministry secretaries during a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat on 5 January.

He pointed out the need to set up a media unit at every ministry to disseminate information on the Government’s development programs at the ministerial level and the public services offered to inform the people.

Emphasising the need to implement the development targets and plans for the year at the beginning of the year, the President said steps would be taken to obtain a report in the future if the funds allocated to the ministries last year have been returned to the Treasury without being utilised. The President also focused on the commitment of ministry secretaries to successfully implement the agreements with foreign countries related to their respective ministries.

All ministry secretaries including the Secretary to the President Austin Fernando, Secretary to the Cabinet of Ministers Sumith Abeysinghe and Secretary to the Ministry of Finance R.H.S. Samaratunga participated in this meeting.

The President also explained the need to follow a systematic procedure with regard to the annual foreign visits of ministry secretaries and senior officials.

Stressing the need for a systematic procedure for the purchase and maintenance of vehicles for State institutions, the President said such a procedure would overcome irregularities such as vehicle misplacements when the Government changes.

The President also called for the appointment of a special committee to look into the destruction of river banks and to take action to prevent it. He instructed the Mahaweli Development Ministry and Irrigation Department to work together to further look into the matter.

The President, pointing out the need to focus more attention on land as Sri Lanka was a country with a growing population, said one of the main reasons for the shortage of coconuts was the lack of a proper land policy.