PM appoints committee to review LG election laws, etc.

A committee consisting of MPs will be established for amending local government election laws, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has said.Chairing the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government in Parliament last week, Prime Minister Gunawardena said that there were many archaic local government laws that had been in force for almost a century.

The Prime Minister said that there were complaints from the public about the tardiness on the part of the local government authorities in dealing with issues such as natural disasters and dengue prevention programmes.

The consultative committee decided to introduce guidelines for the transfer of Divisional Secretaries.The Prime Minister instructed the Secretary to the Ministry Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government to transfer the Divisional Secretaries who had been working in the same place for a long time.

Among those present at the meeting were State Ministers Janaka Wakkambura, Ashoka Priyantha, MPs Sudath Manjula, G. Karunakaram, K. Dhileeban, Yadamini Gunawardena and government officials.