22 February 2021 12:00 am
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has categorically directed that officials with decision making powers must attend District and Divisional Development Committee meetings to implement people-centric projects.
The President stated that from the outset of the “Discussion with the Village” programme, he had realised that the lack of proper involvement of responsible officials was the main reason for the delay in implementing useful projects and the loss of benefits to the people.
The people are suffering due to the endless tug of war between the officials, respective institutions and the people’s representatives. The President reiterated the need for the responsible officials of all key institutions including wildlife, forest conservation, environment and road development to make collective decisions in the implementation of projects.
Absence of proper land use planning is not the fault of the people, President Rajapaksa said while adding that it is essentially important that officials go grassroots to witness the real situation with their own eyes, when providing long term solutions to many rural problems, including land issues.