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| Wednesday, 30 July 2003 |
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Politics | |
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| Govt will free public service from political interference - G.L. by Asanga Warnakulasuriya The Government has embarked on a policy to free the public sector from political interference by re-introducing certain features of the Soulbury Constitution where no political authority wielded power over the public service, Constitutional Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said yesterday. Prof. Peiris said that the time has come to create a "Whistle Blowing Public Sector" where the public officers should be in position to "blow the whistle" whenever there is corruption within the sector. Speaking at a workshop held at the BMICH on Constitutional Provisions relating to the Public Officers, the Minister said political influence which has continued to dominate the public sector from the time the legislature in 1972 introduced an amendment to the Interpretation Ordinance resulted in the questionability of the decisions made by public officers exercising administrative authority being limited to certain identifiable grounds. Although with due respect to the then Constitutional Minister Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, it was admitted by the previous and present Governments that a profound error was made by him while drafting the amendment which demotivated the public officers, limiting their creativity in taking important decisions. The Government will also take measures to put in motion the Police, Public Service and Bribery Commissions set up under the 17th Amendment and this was a crucial time for it. "The record amount of money received by Sri Lanka from the donor countries at the Tokyo donor conference has surfaced the issue that these commissions, especially the Public Service Commission should be functioning to ensure the maximum utilisation of the funds received," Professor said. Meanwhile, Prof. Peiris revealed that the Government working on to bring the Bribery Commission into life is currently facing difficulties in filling a vacant position in the three member committee. |
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