President National Water Supply and Drainage Board Engineers Union, S S Devaraja said that his union was against the proposed Public-Private Partnership initiatives.
Devaraja was speaking at the Union AGM at the Hilton Colombo on October 10. He was of the view that the Union was successful in lobbying for its members and was happy with the relationship it had with the management of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB).
Devaraja outlined the achievements of the Union for the reporting year. He said “Private Public Partnership, as a Union we completely object this proposal. We discussed with additional GM to settle this matter. He arranged a fruitful discussion with the engineer representing the treasury. At this discussion, we were able to convince our grievances and the process was slowed down. It needs to be followed up by the next committee to prevent any harmful decision in the future.”
“Loan repayment is the critical issue we faced last year. The National Water Supply and Drainage Board are in a critical stage with the debts. Our investment did not create predicted revenue. The Board did not have sufficient funds to pay loan repayment amounts. The management tried to obtain another loan to pay these loan installments. The union intervened in this critical situation. We pointed to previous Cabinet papers to show the responsibility of the treasury to pay 75 percent of the loan repayment. We established our arguments with the newly appointed Additional General Manager Finance. We were able to obtain loan installment repayment from the national budget,” Devaraja said. He said, “The current situation of the board shows us the importance of an investment plan. Where to invest and how to invest? A subcommittee was appointed and based on the discussion with the Minister and the management, both of them are convinced.”
Devaraja added, “This is not just another trade union but a professionals association. As a union, we face many challenges during the year but the executive committee was able to solve themselves successfully to some extent. To solve grievances we discuss with the management in a friendly environment. I would like to thank the management for NWSDB for paying positive approaches for the grievances.”
He added “For the Scheme of Recruitment the Board has prepared a scheme of recruitment.
There is a committee. I am a member of that committee. We provide our comments on the scheme of recruitment. To have a uniform system of qualifications in par with engineers to obtain professional non-engineering staff for the betterment of the NWSDB.”
Add new comment