Foreign Ministry to close hole

Dushy Ranetunge in London

LONDON: The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry is to discontinue the tradition of paying its minor employees through a hole in the wall of the Ministry's Accounts Department.

The minor employees were until recently expected to line up near the hole in the wall in the accounts department and receive their pay through the hole.

It is not clear if this was a tradition handed down by the British colonial administration or a home grown one.

Dr Palitha Kohona who took over as Foreign Secretary recently decided to tour the Ministry and had been appalled at the archaic practices followed at the Ministry in the 21st Century. Dr. Kohona had instructed that minor employees should be paid at their desks and not through a hole in the wall.

He had also found that the accommodation provided to drivers at the Ministry complete with bunk beds, made the Welikada prison in Colombo look like a five star establishment. Action is being taken to improve and refurbish these premises.

The accounts department was also following the practice of locking up all the computers in one room, while the accounts staff had their desks in another room. This had been done for security reasons. Dr. Kohona had suggested that the computers should be located on the desks of the accounts staff and not in a separate room, and if security was an issue, passwords should be used.

Instructions had also been given that all future postings of diplomatic staff should be based on merit and language skills. In the past the foreign ministry sent drivers to the UK and Australia etc, when these drivers did not have driving licenses to drive in those countries and did not know the roads.

On one instance two persons sent to London were from down the same street in Moratuwa.

On Tuesday, the Ministry held a reception at the Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations at Horton Place, for foreign diplomats based in Colombo and some members of the local and foreign press.

They were received by the Foreign Minister Bogollagama and the Foreign Secretary. While it is the practice of other countries to have such receptions for their respective diplomatic communities, Sri Lanka had not held such a reception for many years.

Last week, during a private dinner in Colombo, a former Sri Lankan High Commissioner and his wife, who had served in New Delhi and London, during the period when the LTTE were proscribed in the United Kingdom, expressed confidence in the appointment of Dr. Kohona as Foreign Secretary, highlighting his service in the Australian Foreign service.

There was considerable opposition to Dr. Kohona's appointment from within the Foreign Service, as he was considered an outsider, with a powerful agenda for reform.