Minister Weerasekera gets down to overhauling lethargic local authorities

State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Affairs, Rear Admiral (Rtd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera addressing a meeting held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Local Governance in Colombo

State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Affairs, Rear Admiral (Rtd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera vows to set up a local government system that provides efficient service to the public instead of the one prevailing to the dismay of ratepayers.

Addressing a meeting held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Local Governance in Colombo on Friday, the Minister said that it had been reported that most of the public who visit Local Authorities had to waste their time and long delays occurred when granting approvals.

Minister Weerasekera said that even the President of the country responded to a letter within a fortnight so the officials at local government bodies should not take months to respond to the grievances of the people. Under the provisions of the 19th Amendment if a letter seeking his approval sent to the President by the Constitutional Council is not rejected within 14 days, it is considered that he has given his approval. I think such a mechanism should be introduced with regard to the letters sent to the local authorities seeking their approval by the general public so it would alleviate the undue delay,” the Minister said.

The Minister said that he intended to introduce a programme with the assistance of the ICTA so that people would be able to get services done online without wasting time. Activities such as reservation of crematoriums could be done online. It would make the bureaucracy efficient without the public having to pay bribes to touts. “This Ministry has been gazetted as a separate State Ministry to ensure delivery of effective administrative service to the public through local authorities”, Minister Weerasekera added.