All local govt. bodies in NWP to adopt standard code of procedure

Text  by PRIYAN DE SILVA

All 33 Local Government Authorities in the North Western Province (Wayamba) are to follow a standard code of procedure in the future.

“The need arose to draw up a Code of Procedure for Local Government Authorities, as there was no set procedure and each local authority conducted its business independently. The taxes and rates levied for services rendered by the thirty three local authorities In the North Western Province deferred from authority to authority causing much confusion among the ratepayers and the community on the whole”, a prominent member of the committee that compiled the Code of Procedure and Deputy Director of Planning of the Department of Local Government in the North Western Province H.N.B. Abeyawardhana said.

“It took nearly five years and many brain storming sessions for the committee of almost fifty officers to compile the Code of Procedure. It has been published as five separate volumes related to the Establishment Division, Revenue Division, Accounts Division, Technical/Engineering Division and Community Development Division which make up a local authority” he added.

The brain storming sessions of the Committee was funded by the Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities (FSLGA) and the five volumes of the Code of Procedures for local government authorities was printed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities, Hemanthi Goonasekera said that she hoped the other eight provinces will also adopt a similar code of procedures and added that a complete set of the Code of Procedures prepared by the North Western Province has been sent to every local authority in the country.