President orders bureaucrats with decision-making powers to attend meetings without fail

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday ordered officials with decision-making powers to attend District and Regional Development Committee meetings without fail.

 Rajapaksa said this during a “Discussion with the Village” programme at the Nelumwewa Community Hall in the Paligama Grama Niladhari Division of the Karuwalagaswewa Divisional Secretariat, Puttalam District.

The President said he had realised that the lack of involvement of senior officials was the main reason for the delay in implementing useful projects and the delay of benefits to the people.

The people were suffering due to the endless tug of war among officials, respective institutions and the people’s representatives, the President said. The President reiterated the need for the responsible officials of all key institutions including wildlife, forest conservation, environment and road development to make collective decisions in the implementation of projects.

“Absence of proper land use planning is not the fault of the people. It is important that officials go to the grassroots to witness the real situation, before implementing projects that impact people for many years. Some people misinterpret policy decisions that were taken for the benefit of the people. I will never allow the real issues of the people to be swept under the carpet by using misinterpretations as an excuse,” he said.

The poorest and most off the grid villages were selected as the venue for the “Discussion with the Village” programme, the President said. The people living in those villages had been suffering from numerous unresolved issues for a long period of time. Those problems could not be solved by looking at them from an official’s or any other party’s perspective alone, he said.

“Therefore, the officials and the villagers can make the right decisions by meeting each other,” the President said addressing the gathering.

The “Discussion with the Village” programme commenced on September 25, 2020 from Badulla district. Thereafter programmes were organized covering Matale, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Kalutara, Moneragala, Kegalle and Kandy districts.