President tells District Coordinating Committee Chairmen to contribute to build national economy

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa discusses roles and responsibilities of DCC Chairmen at a meeting held on Monday 

• Outlines their roles and responsibilities 
• Says the new position bears great responsibility towards creating an efficient State administration mechanism to move country forward
• President insists all districts need to be developed equally
• Current situation in every district to be reviewed constantly, new mechanism will be formulated to address existing problems immediately
• Basil says all suspended constructions by previous Govt. should be completed within 
• 4 years, use allocation of funds from forthcoming Budget
• All roads in the country will be refurbished within four years

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday urged all 23 District Coordinating Committee (DCC) Chairmen to actively contribute to build the national economy.

“District Coordinating Committee Chairmen bear a great responsibility towards creating an efficient State administration mechanism to move the country forward, while collectively working with Ministers and State Ministers,” the President told a meeting with DCC Chairmen to discuss their roles and responsibilities.

He outlined that the young members of Parliament who were not made Ministers were appointed to Chair District Development Committees with the objective of devoting their entire time to development activities.

“Use the mandate given by the public to proactively find solutions to various issues faced in each of the districts, as all districts in the country need to be developed equally,” President requested.

He pointed out that the Government has identified issues that are common as well as unique to several districts. Priority will be given to resolving problems such as shortage of drinking and irrigation water, rehabilitation of irrigation systems, intrusion of wild elephants into villages and to find swift solutions to address prevailing shortcomings in education and health sectors.

“District Coordinating Committee Chairmen were appointed simultaneously with Cabinet and State Ministers to achieve these targets,” he added.

President Rajapaksa said that the current situation in every district will be reviewed constantly and a new mechanism will be formulated to address existing problems immediately.

The President also told the District Coordinating Committee Chairmen that the trust of the public in politicians should be strengthened by working in synchronisation with Ministries and officials. In response District Coordinating Committee Chairmen assured the President that they will extend their fullest support and commitment to achieve the development goals outlined in the ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ national framework.

Noting that work on several development programs implemented by the previous Government till 2015 has been stalled, Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival Chairman Basil Rajapaksa said all suspended constructions should be completed using the allocation of funds from the forthcoming Budget.

“All roads in the country will be refurbished within the next four years, to actively contribute to build the national economy,” he added.

The Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival Chairman highlighted said that plans have been mooted to refurbish all roads in the country categorised as A, B, C and D before the end of the tenure of President Rajapaksa.

Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Attygalle and Defense Secretary Major Gen. (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne was also present during the discussion.