CMC will not be scrapped: Govt.

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday denied media reports that Colombo Municipal Council would be converted to a State authority instead of a local government elected by the citizen.

Rejecting the media reports on the issue, Minister Rambukwella said that the Government had not taken a decision to convert the Colombo Municipal Council as an authority.  However, the idea was first revealed to media by the Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing, and Common Amenities Wimal Weerawansa, a close ally of the ruling elite.

The Minister said to media that there was a need to develop the Colombo City, considered the country’s premier city, to be on a par with the other major cities of the world. Later media reports said that the Colombo Authority was to come under Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. (www.colombopage.com)