Significant changes will be made to the local administration system to end the arbitrary rule seen in some of the Local Government bodies and uplift transparency and efficiency, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said.
The Speaker made this comment to the media after placing his signature to endorse the three bills to amend the Municipal Councils Ordinance, Urban Councils Ordinance and the Pradeshiya Sabha Act No 15 of 1987, which passed into law in Parliament last Monday.
He pointed out a new system is being worked out for the LG bodies to make sure that the powers are not concentrated on a single individual, but shared among all members to encourage team work and collective governance.
“There had been instances where the LG bodies were highly corrupted and inefficient. We need to establish a transparent rule in the LG bodies as they are the closest administration unit to the people that deals with their day-to-day problems. We hope to bring in changes to the current system when the LG bodies starts functioning after the elections,” the Speaker said while assuring that the LG polls would come in January.
Explaining on the changes the Government intends to make to the LG administration, Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Faiszer Musthapha said the powers of Mayors of Councils and Chairmen of Pradeshiya Sabhas would be limited to policy making while the implementation would be taken over by the Provincial Chief Minister, respective Cabinet Minister or the President.
“To give effect to these changes, we will bring in amendments again to the Municipal Councils Ordinance, Urban Councils Ordinance and the Pradeshiya Sabha Act. With the new administration system, we hope to create a new culture. We encourage community leaders and women to come forward and contest for LG polls. You need not to have a political lineage for this purpose. Nobody should come to politics with the aim to sustain their families,” he said while urging all the political parties to adhere to a policy of ‘one from each family’ when giving nominations at the upcoming polls.
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