Perform duties to the letter - Secy to President

Dhanushka Godakumbura

The best tribute we as public servants can pay our proud and trusted leader President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to perform our duties well to the letter and spirit, said Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga. He was speaking at a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday to mark the resumption of duties for the New Year by its staff.

He was delivering a lecture on the theme ‘Role of Public Servants in transforming the Motherland to the Wonder of Asia’.

The Secretary to the President said the Presidential Secretariat can be considered as the highest pedestal in the public service with its staff handpicked by the President himself.

Therefore, they had the prime responsibility of performing their duties in the most efficient manner, he said. Weeratunga said: “Today is the first working day of 2011.

Although April 14 is the customary New Year for Sinhalese and Tamils, there had been a long tradition of celebrating the dawn of the year on January 1.

“That is why we as members of the Presidential Secretariat Staff took a pledge to engage in public service with love and compassion.

“Staff at the Presidential Secretariat are a privileged lot as they receive special recognition at all levels of society. Therefore, their work too should be excellent spic and and span in keeping with that high recognition.”

Weeratunga who said that he had to continue in his post at the behest of the President said 25 days of the year were public holidays.

“When weekends are added to it there are a total of 122 holidays. This accounted for almost a quarter of the year. As such only 243 days or two-thirds of the year were working days,” he said.

“The interesting part of this is that a day’s working (duty) period is only seven hours 45 minutes. This added upto 1,762 working hours per year which is only on-fifth of the number of hours per year which was 8,760. When the 42 days entitled leave is subtracted this amounted to only 1,400 hours. Therefore, let us also perform an honest job during this period,” he said. “President Mahinda Rajapaksa eradicated terrorism by working from 5am to midnight daily. He even used to wake up certain officials at 5am to attend to various tasks. We as members of the Presidential Secretariat staff should try to emulate him and do an honest job of work during our working hours which are only a minute part of the President’s working hours,” he said. Weeratunga says

* Emulate President

* President works from 5am to midnight