Panadura Urban Council Chairman Nandana Gunathilaka has appointed councillors of different political parties into six committees to strengthen the Council administration to ensure transparency.
The Council’s new Secretary T. Manel Siyabalagoda was directed to strictly administer the affairs of the Council as empowered by the local government law.
The Secretary was directed to look into the administrative affairs of the Council quickly and take disciplinary action if the employees neglected official duties.
“This Council must set an example to the other local bodies in the country,” the
Chairman said at the Council’s monthly meeting on January 3 at the Council auditorium.
All councillors regardless of political affiliation paid tribute to the Chairman’s effort to provide an honest service to rate payers in the Panadura Urban Council area.
They said the Chairman had had to administer the Council without an accountant, works superintendent and a secretary.
When he placed the grievances of the Council before the Commissioner General of Local Government, Western Province, he appointed a well-experienced secretary to the Council.
The Commissioner General has also asked the Chairman to recruit a retired accountant, work superintendent and public health inspector on contact basis.
The Commissioner General had expressed concern over the severe shortage of experienced persons to fill administrative posts.
The Chairman said the most pressing problem is the construction of a new building for the Panadura Public Market because the present building has been condemned by state engineers.
He had met Megapolis and Western Province Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, who agreed to allocate funds in the forthcoming Budget for the construction of the Panadura New Market building.
The Commissioner General has granted funds for alternative arrangements for the vendors inside the present market, because they had to vacate the building for the construction of the new market.
UNP Councillors Anura Wijepala, P.H. Wilman Fernando, Kumudu Fernando and Vice Chairman Sumanasdasa Silva, SLFP Councillor Sanjeewa Weeraman, and JVP Councillors Piyasena Fernando and Chandana Hettiarchchi also spoke supporting the suggestions of the Chairman to develop the Panadura Urban Council area, providing more facilities to rate payers.
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