Participatory management system for Government institutions:

SEMA to settle industrial disputes

Hiran H. SENEWIRATNE

The Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA) has launched programme to settle industrial disputes in public sector entities through a participatory management system, its Advisor Labour Relations S. Amarasinghe said.

“The Government’s principal strategy is to increase efficiency and effectiveness in public entities without privatising them.

It has now been proved through their many programmes,” Amarasinghe told the Daily News Business.

He said the objective of SEMA is to convert loss making public enterprises into profit making enterprises without being burden on Government coffers.
 

Currently more than 20 Government institutions are under the SEMA purview to manage their resources to an optimum level.

Some of the Institutions are the Ceylon Electricity Board, Ports Authority, Ministry of Public State Management and Development, Petroleum Corporation and SEMA’s task is to designs strategic plans to various public sector entities based on the needs and requirements of the institution with the consent of the employees, Amarasinghe said.

SEMA identified three areas where public sector organisations are burdened with.

They are the trade union problem, management disputes and corruption.

Therefore, institutions under the SEMA have launched a system to settle problems with the participation of trade unions, the management and an independent body to resolve conflicts, he said.

Amarasinghe said they have introduced many strategies for many public entities including the Ports Authority, Sri Lanka Transport Board, and Plantation companies which are successfully implementing strategies.

Amarasinghe said the ownership of the property is with the Government and all changes would be done through collective agreements with all trade unions on two conditions i.e. not to privatise the entity and to settle disputes through a joint consultative committee.

Currently certain public institutions including the Sri Lanka Transport Board, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, plantation companies are successfully implementing the strategy.

Therefore, before the end of next year SME will introduce a road map for 20 entities to convert them into profit oriented institutions.

With the successful implementation of this strategy and framework other institutions such as Salu Sala, Lanka Cement Corporation and the Ceramic Corporation have requested SEMA to recommence operations and form a strategy.