News
All local govt. bodies in NWP to adopt standard code of procedure
Text by PRIYAN DE SILVA
All 33 Local Government Authorities in the North Western Province (Wayamba) are to follow a standard code of procedure in the future.
“The need arose to draw up a Code of Procedure for Local Government Authorities, as there was no set procedure and each local authority conducted its business independently. The taxes and rates levied for services rendered by the thirty three local authorities In the North Western Province deferred from authority to authority causing much confusion among the ratepayers and the community on the whole”, a prominent member of the committee that compiled the Code of Procedure and Deputy Director of Planning of the Department of Local Government in the North Western Province H.N.B. Abeyawardhana said.
“It took nearly five years and many brain storming sessions for the committee of almost fifty officers to compile the Code of Procedure. It has been published as five separate volumes related to the Establishment Division, Revenue Division, Accounts Division, Technical/Engineering Division and Community Development Division which make up a local authority” he added.
The brain storming sessions of the Committee was funded by the Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities (FSLGA) and the five volumes of the Code of Procedures for local government authorities was printed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities, Hemanthi Goonasekera said that she hoped the other eight provinces will also adopt a similar code of procedures and added that a complete set of the Code of Procedures prepared by the North Western Province has been sent to every local authority in the country.
It has been reported that two persons riding a motorcycle were killed in a shooting incident that took place around 11.45pm on Friday [21] night , in front of the southern entrance of the Devundara Sri Vishnu Devalaya, on Sinhasana Road.
The unidentified gunmen, who arrived in a van, opened fire using a T-56 assault rifle and 9 mm firearms before fleeing the scene. The police have recovered 39 T-56 bullet casings, two T-56 rounds of live ammunition, a T-56 magazine, three 9 mm bullet casings, and one 9mm live ammunition.
The van suspected to have been used by the shooters was found abandoned and set on fire on a side road about 800 meters from the crime scene.
The two deceased victims have been identified as Tikira Hennedige Yomesh Nadishan and Marakkala Manage Pasidu Tharuka, both residents of Sinhasana Road, Devinuwara.
Matale Dirstrict SJB MP Rohini Kumari Wijerathna yesterday tabled a list in Parliament naming 1,300 members, leaders, trade unionists, and activists of the UNP, who were allegedly assassinated by the JVP. The list was submitted during a parliamentary session as part of the government’s ongoing effort to document victims of political violence.
Along with the names of the victims, MP Wijerathna also introduced over 900 family members of the alleged victims, providing further context to the extent of the violence.
Speaking during the session, MP Wijerathna stated, “Child soldiers were recruited by the JVP even before the LTTE. ‘Kantale Bonikki,’ a 13-year-old child was used to murder a 70-year-old female UNP supporter.” She accused the JVP of using children to kill numerous UNP members during the JVP’s second insurgency.
The MP said that names not included in the current list would be submitted during the upcoming “Batalanda Debate” in April.
MP Wijerathna invited the public, via her Facebook page to submit further details on family members affected by political violence to ensure their inclusion in the extended record.
Deputy Labour Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe yesterday informed Parliament that a CID probe had been called into land deals involving former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa in Gampaha.
Jayasinghe said a request has been made by the Acting IGP in that regard.
The Deputy Minister said the lands in the Imbulgoda and Makola had been purchased in 2012 and sold in 2023.
He told Parliament that a plot of land purchased in Ihala Imbulgoda in 2012 under the Mahinda Rajapaksa Spiritual Foundation for Rs. 500,000 has been sold for Rs. 10 million, adding that the owner of the land is one Shiranthi Wickramasinghe Rajapaksa of Carlton House, Tangalle.
Jayasinghe said that another plot of land in Makola that was purchased for Rs. 01 million has been sold for Rs. 12 million, of which the owner was Shiranthi Wickramasinghe Rajapaksa of Carlton House, Tangalle. Inquiries into the land deals have revealed that the deeds had been drawn up and signed at Temple Trees and had been transferred in 2023 to a person residing in Nugegoda.
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