President directs to devise new administrative mechanisms to boost operations, efficiency 

 Meeting of Provincial Governors

• Instruct officials to collaborate with Provincial Governors and Chief Secretaries to draft report within a month
• Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake hopes for Presidential Secretariat’s support to address challenges faced by PCs
• Provincial Governors calls on President to fill teacher vacancies, open doors to develop provincial tourism

President Ranil Wickreme-singhe directed officials to devise a new mechanism to optimise the operations of the Local Council, Provincial Council, and Central Government bodies to reduce budgetary inefficiencies. 

“Our focus must be on how to move forward in this way while also taking into account the administrative structure of the Central Government. In some cases, identical services are provided by the three levels of Government: the Local Council, the Provincial Council, and the Central Government. Unfortunately, this repetition results in substantial financial wastage. Thus, it is critical to create a new mechanism centred on the cooperation of these three entities,” he said at a meeting held with Provincial Governors and Chief Secretaries at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday.

The President has also instructed officials to collaborate with Provincial Governors and Chief Secretaries to draft a comprehensive report on this matter within a month. These consultations are intended to ensure a well-rounded perspective before formulating the new approach.

“This step is crucial since the Provincial Councils are at present non-operational and bereft of ministers. Consequently, you, the Provincial Governors, hold complete governing authority within the current Provincial Council system,” Wickremesinghe said.

Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake expressed his anticipation for the backing of the Presidential Secretariat in addressing the challenges confronted by Provincial Councils in their interactions with the Central Government.

The Provincial Governors also informed the President that it was important for all open teaching positions under their respective provincial council domains to be filled right now. They noted that there were excess instructors in some schools while there were teacher shortages in others. To address this disparity, they requested the development of a teacher exchange program.

Highlighting the issue of incomplete two-story buildings constructed under the “Best school is the nearest school” concept, the Provincial Governors called attention to specific examples of building deterioration and urged the creation of an appropriate program to address this issue.

The Governors also brought up blocked development initiatives for which funds had been allotted. Unfortunately, several of these initiatives funding was still pending.

In addition to these issues, the Provincial Governors asked the President to open doors for the development of the provincial tourism industry.

Present at this discussion were President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena, Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry Secretary as well as secretaries and officials from various line ministries, the PMD said.