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New cohesive political culture required - Prof. G.L.

Over a series of decades the main political parties of this country have been engaged in a battle or power, whilst the governing party disregarded the opposition, the opposition has been fully occupied criticizing and obstructing the activities of the government said Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion, and Constitutional Affairs. The time has come to completely do away with that uncompromising political system and introduce a new cohesive political culture to the country, said the Minister.

The Minister expressed these views addressing a gathering as Chief Guest at the Diploma Awards Ceremony of the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) held at the BMICH on March 26, 2002.

The NIBM was established in 1968, coming under the purview of the then Ministry of Industrial & Scientific Affairs in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program and the International Labour Organization. Its objective was to recognize the training needs of the Public and Private sector managerial and supervisory levels and arrange programs to enhance the knowledge and skills of managers. In addition, over the past 22 years, this institution has continuously held Diploma courses on Marketing, Management, Personnel Management, Mechanical Engineering, Science & Insurance Management. It also conducts courses on Information Technology and Computer Science. At this ceremony, awards were distributed among 144 Upper and Middle Managers, 328 Computer Scientists and 64 IT Managers.

Minister Peiris said that our main resource is the Human Resource Systematic training and education should be made available to them. Out of nine eligible University entrants only one gets the chance to enter the University, the reason being lack of adequate infrastructure facilities. The present education system should be reformed to suit the fast changing needs of the society. Academic or university qualifications are not sufficient to secure employment. Solid training is absolutely necessary. It is very important to have evening and weekend courses designed to accommodate those students who do not get the chance to enter the universities.

The Minister also suggested that these programmes should be conducted in all three languages. They should not be confined only to Colombo, but spread out to Galle, Matara, Ratnapura, Kandy, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Puttalam and the Moneragala area too. Having educated themselves, the young generation would want to get themselves adequately employed and thereafter settle down to a successful married life. We must not forget that due to the inability to achieve all these, we had to face situations arising out of mere frustrations, in the past. There is an urgent need to develop various sectors such as management, industrial and agricultural sectors in order to create employment opportunities for the youth. It will not be a difficult task if the government can only save the millions of Rupees spent on the war, on arms, combat ships and purchase of planes. Why did we spend so much money? To destroy human lives. We have now taken the initiative to stop such destruction. People need a new political culture. In order to find practical solutions to such problems in this country, Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe has invited other political parties to join with the government. This message was taken by Prof. Peiris to the Venerable Malwatu Mahanayaka thera yesterday. The Mahanayaka thera extended his blessings on this move. There is great hope for peace amongst the people. The government is faced with problems. There will be more problems to come. However, it could clearly be stated that there is a light visible above the horizon, said the Minister.

The Minister said that the NIBM is rendering a great service in providing management training. The Diploma holders should consider their Diplomas as the start. The Minister thanked all those who contributed over the years towards the success of the NIBM and assured them the fullest cooperation of the government and his Ministry.

Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that Sri Lanka today needs Managers. The private sector in this country is constantly expanding. In order to improve efficiency and productivity and accelerate development in the North and South, the government has given priority to the development of human resources. In this, the Minister congratulated the NIBM on its efforts.

The welcome speech was delivered by Mr. N.G. Kularathne, Director-General of the NIBM whilst the awards were jointly distributed by the two Ministers.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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