Public friendly service, development go hand in hand, says WDJ

Ridma Dissanayake

Providing a public friendly service is important to make the country's development progress faster, Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W D J Seneviratne said.

The minister was addressing the opening ceremony of the 281st Sathosa outlet in Ratnapura recently.

"There are anomalies in prices of commodities due to the items not having a stable price and prices not been controlled," the minister said.

He said Sathosa provides essential items to consumers at fair and low prices.

"President Mahinda Rajapaksa is following a special policy to protect paddy farmers. It is important to make arrangements to protect all farmers while developing the country's agriculture sector," he said.

The minister said if the UNP was in power, it would have sold Sathosa to the private sector.

"The UNP's decision to open all Sathosa outlets 24 hours resulted in Sathosa becoming an unprofitable venture. This government will never take such wrong decisions," Seneviratne said. Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council member Prabath Mahesh de Silva and Ratnapura Mayor Kapila Abeyratne were also present.