Departing from the practice of holding District Coordinating Committee (DCC) Meetings in main cities, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday held a DCC meeting at the Rajagiri Len Viharaya, Homadola, Udugama, one of the most remote and impoverished villages in the Galle District. This was the first in a series of such countrywide meetings planned to be held at such locations.
Upon learning that the President was visiting their village to see the problems first hand, residents gathered on either side of the route the President was taking.
President Rajapaksa disembarked at several stops along the way and instructed security officials to let the villagers come close, to hear their grievances and accept their letters.
A large number of issues including urban and rural economic development, disaster management and tourism industry were discussed during the meeting held at Homadola, one of the poorest villages in the Galle district. Special attention was drawn to political, social and economic problems faced by the people in the area.
Residents and political representatives of the area regardless of party affiliations praised the President for holding the DCC meeting in a remote location and taking a hands-on approach to the people’s problems. They said this should be an example to all Ministers who like to hold meetings in A/C rooms in their city offices.
The President solved many of the problems raised by the villagers on the spot, giving relevant instructions to officials and politicians who accompanied him. Some of the issues raised at DCC meeting were immediately solved. These included providing a water bowser to the Udugama Hospital, appointing Principals to schools where there are no Principals and providing funds for small scale water supply projects.
The political representatives in the area highlighted the shortage of English teachers in schools in the area. The President advised to fill all the existing vacancies immediately and to regularize the recruitment of more teachers for Science and Mathematics subjects. The shortage of drinking water in several areas including Neluwa, Nagoda and Udugama was also discussed at length. The President urged officials to complete community and other water projects which are currently underway by providing necessary funds.
The issue of solid waste management was also one of the major topics of the discussion.
Attention was also paid to the construction of rural roads and bridges, flood control systems in the Galle district and to provide speedy solutions for the issues arising in the process of urban development.
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