The Government has issued an Extraordinary Gazette Notification declaring the Postal Service as an Essential Service.
Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said that the relevant Gazette notification was signed by him yesterday morning. The Minister said that he took this decision to provide continuous service to the people.
The Minister added that the Postal Department employees should deviate from political agenda to provide and better service to the public.
He said that the Government is taking all steps to provide public service without any interruption. “We are working in compliance with rules and regulation and the Constitution of the country”, he said. The Minister said that this step was taken based on the requests received in this regard. He said that the trade union action launched by the Postal employees does not have any basis.
“The Postal Department has been suffering losses for a long time. We are taking alternative ways to increase its revenue without going for privatisation,”he said.
“I announced in Parliament that no Post Office will be closed.The Nuwara Eliya Post Office has been replaced by a modern post office. A request has received to provide the land where Nuwara Eliya post office is located for an Indian hotel,”he said. He said that the Government will not be able to solve the balance of payment issues if avenues are not created for investments in the country.
“Valuable historical sites owned by the Government have been given away before for investment projects. During the era of President Mahinida Rajapaksa, the land where the Military headquarters was located was given to the Shangri-La Hotel and the huge security complex in Akuregoda was built after taking the money”, he said. The Minister added that historical temples also came under water under Mahaweli Development project.
If the postal workers cannot understand this truth, we will not be able to rise even a notch from where this country has fallen. You have to stay as before.
“What is necessary for the country is to bring in more foreign investments. If the foreign reserves are lost, we will not be able to buy oil, gas, medicine and food,” he said.
