President tells public servants:

Perform duties with conscience to eradicate corruption

Rohan Mathes

President Mahinda Rajapaksa urged public servants to perform their duties with a willing conscience, dignity and integrity to eradicate corruption, for a prosperous Sri Lanka.

Presiding at a ceremony to handover appointment letters to Assistant Superintendants of Customs and Trainee Excise Inspectors at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo yesterday, President Rajapaksa observed that while crushing terrorism in all its manifestations, the Nation also needs to eliminate alcoholism and the cancerous venom of rampant corruption predominant in the society.

"We need a clean and corrupt-free public sector which would work with dedication, commitment and dignity and above all with a strong will to do the right thing at the right time, on his own accord, independantly and courageously. He should act fearlessly sans political or any other bias, within the flexible framework of his duties, responsibilities and rights," he stressed.

"My Government from its top leadership to the lowest levels, will at all times provide absolute security and protection to officials who follow these ideals," he added.

The President maintained that the Government needs a committed and dedicated political leadership, a Government service and a private sector, to achieve the envisaged targets of a healthy economic growth rate of over seven per cent, amidst the daunting challenges confronted.

"We are recruiting the long-awaited cadres required to implement and to reach the targets of our 10-year plan. We have to execute our plans vigilantly, but not cause unnecessary delays in the process", he said.

He pointed out that albeit the previous regimes were vending-off the most profitable ventures of the State such as insurance and airlines, his Government was not prepared to follow suit. "We will not collect revenue by disposing Government assets," he said.

President Rajapaksa opined that the best have been selected for the posts, not on any other considerations other than that based on their own talents and merits, and urged the new recruits to inculcate within them an affection and love not only for their jobs but also for their motherland, in their performance of their duties.

State Revenue Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said the Government was appointing another batch of public sector employees as a part of the integral 400,000 employees recruited under the Mahinda Chintanaya within the last two years.

He urged the new employees to be people-oriented and to protect the good image and goodwill of the institution they work for. He urged them to protect the moral values and virtues of the nation.

Director General of Customs Sarath Jayathilake and Excise Commissioner General D.G.W. Happuarachchi also spoke.