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Samurdhi image should be changed

by Chilaw group correspondent

The public image on Samurdhi should be changed. It must be cut off from all political affiliations, Samurdhi Minister R. A. D. Sirisena said at a meeting held at the new Chilaw Urban Council building attended by Samurdhi Development Officers and Samurdhi Managers.

Among those present at the meeting were Puttalam District Members of Parliament Neomal Perera and Ranga Bandara, North Western Provincial Councillor Ayub Khan, Chilaw Urban Council Chairman M. Sweeny Perera Puttalam G. A. Ravi Jayalath Dissanayake, Chilaw Divisional Secretary D. Surasinghe and a number of government officials.

He said that the present government is faced with the task of rebuilding the collapsed economy and to put into order a deranged administration. He appealed to every one to help in uplifting the country from the morass it has fallen into.

Minister Sirisena said that in the new system envisaged the granting of subsidies was only one aspect in the program of work. In fact we have not as yet gone towards our final goal. In the new set up there are a number of programs for the emancipation of poverty from the community.

The main defect so far has been the mixing up of politics with Samurdhi. Things would have been very much better had politics not entered the picture. This situation happily has now changed and things are done without any political interference, he said.

In an area like Chilaw where fishing is rampant the Minister wished to offer a 'Micro-credit Loan Scheme' to small-time business people who borrow daily loans each morning paying it up in the evening with exorbitant interest of ten to fifteen per cent per day.

He also proposed to open 'Tourist Trade Stalls where local Arts and handicrafts could be exhibited. This would bring in better revenue to the country, the Minister said.

Among other innovative measures suggested was an 'Internal Transfer Scheme for Samurdhi staff and a co-ordinated scheme of work between the Samurdhi and the Janasaviya.

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