Foreign Service: SL to follow Singapore

A system of appointing non-resident ambassadors would be introduced as means of modernising the country's Foreign Service, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera informed Parliament today.

Minister Samaraweera said this would be introduced as a recommendation of a team sent to Singapore recently to study the Foreign Service in that country.

He said the system, which existed in Singapore was something, which cut costs down.

The Minister said inspectors would be deployed to monitor the effectiveness of Sri Lankan missions abroad. “We are looking towards maintaining checks and balances and control to see that the Sri Lankan missions abroad are effective" he said.

He also said that some heads of missions had engaged in their businesses and had even sold buildings belonging to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the countries they were serving in.

The Minister said there was a dearth of Foreign Service officials currently as Sri Lanka had only two-third of the needed cadre to run the Foreign Service.

He said that vacancies would be filled with qualified people. This he said would be done annually after holding Foreign Service examinations.

Referring to an allegation made by Opposition MP Dinesh Gunawardane that UNP Working Committee members were being appointed as heads of missions, Mr. Samaraweera said 34 heads of missions out of a total of 67 are career diplomats unlike during the previous regime, where there were only 15 such career diplomats.

The Minister said inspectors would be deployed to monitor the effectiveness of Sri Lankan missions abroad. “We are looking towards maintaining checks and balances and control to see that the Sri Lankan missions abroad are effective" he said. (Yohan Perera)