2023-06-09
News Categories : Committee News
No final decision will be taken about Provincial Councils and Local Government delimitation without consulting with the Members of Parliament.
Even if the number of provincial council members will be reduced, injustice will not be allowed to any part of the population.
- Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena affirms
Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government affirmed that even if the number of provincial council members will be reduced, injustice will not be allowed to any part of the population and that no final decision will be taken about Provincial Councils and Local Government delimitation without consulting with the Members of Parliament. He said that this should be done with a fair representation of youth and women.
The Chairman to the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils & Local Government stated the aforesaid on 07.06.2023. Members of Parliament, Government officials and State Ministers including State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Hon. Janaka Wakkumbura, State Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Ashoka Priyantha were present at this Committee meeting held.
Attention was drawn to the difficulties faced by public servants who submitted nominations for the 2023 local government elections due to the delay in the elections. It was also discussed that even though a circular has been issued that salaries should be paid to them, the work is not done properly in some institutions. Furthermore, according to the situation, these employees have to face great difficulties during the assignment of temporary placements. State Minister Hon. Janaka Wakkumbura said that a circular has been issued to the nearest institution regarding the process of attachment. The Prime Minister instructed to take necessary steps in this regard immediately.
A request was also made by the Members of Parliament to bring the necessary legal amendment to change this situation. If not, a proposal to pass a resolution to cancel the nomination by way of the Parliament was also presented here.
The Committee also paid attention to the activities of the draft Bill prepared to remove the existing obstacles for the field officers to request votes in their electorate. Accordingly, the Bill has been forwarded to the Attorney General for consultation, the officials said. Accordingly, the Prime Minister instructed the officials to take the necessary steps and complete the work pertaining to the Bill.
The members pointed out the need to intervene to carry out the necessary activities for the public as the local government bodies are currently controlled by the local government commissioners. That measures will be taken to provide instructions to the provincial governors to provide the necessary facilities to expedite the work of solving public problems through the district coordination committee chairpersons stated that measures will be taken to provide instructions to the provincial governors to provide the necessary facilities to expedite the work of solving public problems through the district coordination committee chairpersons.
Attention was also drawn to the fact that provincial government officials were not given proper transfers. Accordingly, the Prime Minister also emphasized that the transfers of all administrative officers including divisional secretaries should be done properly. Accordingly, the Prime Minister gave instructions to the officials to take immediate action for the said.
The matters pertaining to that of which the former regional secretary Tissamaharama had told the media was also taken into discussion. It was revealed that an immediate report was called in this regard and a letter was also received stating that a voluntary transfer was requested for personal reasons. The Secretary to the Ministry said that it is not reasonable to issue such a statement and an investigation will be carried out in this regard.
The attention of the Minister was also drawn to the activities of making local councils including Wayangoda local council into municipal councils. It was also revealed that there are 85 such requests. Accordingly, the Prime Minister gave necessary instructions to speed up the work.
The Leader of the Opposition drew the attention of the Committee towards the confirmation of those who have not been given the respective permanent appointments due to the deficiencies in the process in the program of giving appointments to qualified graduates under the 2020 Graduate Trainee Program. The officials pointed out that the review committee headed by the Prime Minister's Secretary has recommended that a policy decision should be taken. Accordingly, the Prime Minister gave necessary instructions to the officials to speed up the work.
Prime Minister Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena said that the necessary measures will be taken to employ nearly 30,000 multi-purpose department employees assigned to government institutions, and their salaries will also be increased.
Furthermore, the committee emphasized the need to work to confirm the people who have worked in the local government institutions for many years. State Minister Hon. Janaka Wakkumbura said that there are currently 9700 such employees and they are being prioritized.
2026-01-09
Committee draws attention to the need to recruit IT OfficersCommittee highlights the failure to update the official website of the Department of ArchaeologyThe Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) emphasized the necessity of maintaining a centralized data system containing comprehensive information on antiquities and archaeological excavations.This matter was discussed when COPA met in Parliament on 06th January 2026, under the chairmanship of Hon. Member of Parliament Kabir Hashim, to examine the Auditor General’s Reports for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023 relating to the Department of Archaeology, as well as the department’s current performance.The Committee recalled that at its meeting held on 03rd October 2023, it had recommended the establishment and maintenance of a data system incorporating information on all archaeological excavation sites in the country, discoveries made through such excavations, the success or failure of those excavations, whether further excavations should be continued, and details of other locations requiring excavation.When the Chair inquired into the current progress, the officials present stated that a comprehensive database containing all such information has not yet been established, and that a data system is currently maintained only in relation to excavation permits.Accordingly, the Committee stressed that it is critically important to establish and continuously update such a data system, and informed officials that COPA is prepared to provide assistance if required. The Chair further emphasized the importance of assigning a sufficient number of IT officers to the Department of Archaeology.Officials informed the Committee that although approval had been granted by the Department of Management Services to recruit 12 IT officers, currently only one officer is in service, and that officer is not attached to the head office. The Committee therefore instructed that urgent action be taken to fill the existing vacancies.The Chair also recommended that a formal proposal with regard to the centralized, up-to-date database on archaeological excavations be submitted to the Committee within three months.The Committee further drew attention to the failure to update the official website of the Department of Archaeology. Members pointed out that maintaining an updated official website is vital for tourist attraction. Accordingly, the Committee instructed the Department to prepare a mechanism and take prompt action to update the website.Additionally, the Committee took note that 48% of the total archaeological sites identified as at 31 December 2023 have not yet been gazetted. The Committee recommended that a report containing full details of gazetted and non-gazetted sites be submitted within one month.Furthermore, the Committee recommended the submission of a report on sites identified for nomination to UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, along with the relevant draft proposals.The meeting was attended by Committee Members, Hon. Deputy Ministers Sugath Thilakaratne, Aravinda Senarath, and Nalin Hewage, and Committee Members Hon. Members of parliament M. L. A. M. Hisbullah, Dr. Janaka Senarathna, T. K. Jayasundara, Chandana Sooriyarachchi, (Attorney at Law) Sagarika Athauda, (Attorney at Law) Thushari Jayasinghe, Oshani Umanga, Lal Premanath, Manjula Suraweera Arachchi, Ruwanthilaka Jayakody and Sunil Ratnasiri.
2026-01-08
Approval of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour has been granted for the Regulation under Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act (Chapter 129), scheduled for debate in Parliament tomorrow (Jan. 9).This approval was granted at the meeting of the Committee held in Parliament on 2026.01.06, chaired by the Minister of Labour (Dr.) Anil Jayantha and with the participation of the Deputy Minister of Labour Mahinda Jayasinghe.This Regulation, made by the Minister of Labour on 2025.12.12, was presented to Parliament on 2025.12.18. The Regulation amends the current legal provision which states:“Any female employee who has attained the age of eighteen years may be employed in a residential hotel after 6.00 p.m and before 6.00 a.m, on the work of a female reception officer, ladies linen room attendant, ladies cloak room attendant or ladies lavatory attendant.”Accordingly, the Regulation introduces the required legal amendments to allow, in addition to the designated categories already permitted, female workers over the age of 18 employed in residential hotels as Food and Beverage Stewardess to be engaged in employment after 6.00 p.m. or before 6.00 a.m. on the following day.However, officials informed the Committee that under this Regulation, in any instance where the work shift of a female employer employed under this provision ends between 6.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m., the employer shall be responsible for ensuring her health care, safety and welfare by providing suitable accommodation until 6.00 a.m. or providing transport facilities to her usual residence.Although the current female population in Sri Lanka is approximately 51%, female labour force participation is around 34%. It was discussed that easing existing legal restrictions is a timely need in order to create opportunities to increase female labour contributions, especially to support the rapidly developing tourism sector.A number of proposals on measures that can be taken to safeguard the rights of female workers and other employees, as well as matters relating to increasing the wages of plantation workers, were presented to the Committee by Hon. Members of Parliament. The Hon. Minister of Labour stated that discussions on these matters will be carried out in the future and necessary steps will be taken accordingly.A number of Members of Parliament, the Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, and officials representing the Ministry of Labour and institutions under it also participated in this Committee meeting.
2026-01-08
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Transport, Highways and Urban Development has approved the Regulations under the Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203) scheduled to be presented to Parliament for approval on 08.01.2025.Accordingly, this approval was granted at the recent (Jan. 06) meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Transport, Highways and Urban Development held in Parliament under the chairmanship of Hon. Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development Bimal Rathnayake.As such, the Regulations published in the Extraordinary Gazette bearing No. 2452/40 under the Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203) state that in an instance where a police officer has reasonable suspicion that a person driving, operating or physically controlling a motor vehicle on any road has used drugs, such police officer shall produce that person to a Government Medical Officer or an officer of a hospital who has been empowered for the purpose, for further examination.Furthermore, the Regulations published in the Extraordinary Gazette bearing No. 2455/29 under the Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203) state that every person travelling on an expressway must wear a seat belt. Accordingly, the Committee granted approval for the said Regulations.In addition, officials of the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development briefed the Committee on the damage caused due to the sudden disaster situation that arose within the country and the progress of restoration efforts. Officials of the Road Development Authority stated that approximately 287 road sections belonging to the Authority, covering a distance of around 1481 kilometers, have been damaged. They further informed the Committee that the estimated cost for reconstruction would be around Rs. 86 billion.Officials of the Railway Department stated that the Department has incurred a loss of approximately Rs. 300 billion. Furthermore, officials stated that the Sri Lanka Transport Board has suffered a loss of around Rs. 63 million due to the emergency disaster situation.The Chair of the Committee also stated that a web page has been created to inform the public regarding the damage caused to the road system in various parts of the country. Accordingly, he pointed out that the public may access the page https://road-lk.org/ to obtain information on the relevant damage.Hon. Deputy Chairman of the Committees Hemali Weerasekara, Hon. Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, Hon. State Minister of Transport and Highways (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasekera, Hon. Deputy Minister of Urban Development Eranga Gunasekara, other Hon. Deputy Ministers, Hon. Members of Parliament and several government officials were present at this occasion.
2026-01-08
A meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Defence was held yesterday (Jan. 07) evening in the Parliament premises under the chairmanship of Hon. President and Minister of Defence Anura Kumara Dissanayaka.At this meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Defence, Members of Parliament raised several issues such as reviewing the progress of the implementation of decisions reached at previous committee meetings, the release of lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, the opening of roads, and the functioning of schools.Accordingly, His Excellency the President issued the necessary instructions to officials to provide feasible solutions to those matters, and discussions were also held regarding existing obstacles and the steps to be taken in carrying out these activities.Matters such as the welfare of members of the defence forces and deploying more personnel for the United Nations peacekeeping forces were also discussed.Deputy Minister of Defence Major General (Rtd.) Aruna Jayasekera was also present at this meeting, along with several Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Members of Parliament. Likewise, a group including the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Heads of the Tri-Forces, several senior officials of the defence sector, the Secretary General of Parliament Mrs. Kushani Rohanadeera, and officials of the Ministry were also present at this meeting.
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