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Departments, corporations in headless dilemma
View(s):The National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) has said there can be no legitimate appointments to departments and corporations under the newly appointed ministries as the government that is holding the reins is unstable. NTUF General Secretary Padmasiri Ranawakaarachchi said many of the departments were struggling to get their work done as chairpersons and board members had not been appointed. He said the government was finding it difficult to appoint personnel on a permanent basis as the power struggle was going on and there was no assurance on what the future held for the appointees.
He said it was common knowledge that most departments and corporations were functioning without board members as the boards stood dissolved with the resignation of chairpersons. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation, the Fisheries Department, the Employees Trust Fund Board and the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission were among the institutions that were in dysfunction without chairpersons and board members.
Mr. Ranawakaarachchi was referring to the Presidential Secretariat directive which instructed Ministry Secretaries to appoint officials to vacant positions in the ministries, departments and corporations. The directive said the secretaries should take action to appoint officials to the posts of chairpersons and top posts from among senior officials or eligible retired state officials.
Following the sudden appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on October 26, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed 30 new ministers in the two weeks that followed. Meanwhile, the appointment last Wednesday of a controversial figure, Nalaka Godahewa, as chairman of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation has raised eyebrows. Dr. Godehwea is out on bail in a case involving the alleged misappropriation of funds while he was chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission. He was also implicated in the notorious Krrish square project.
In another posting, appointing Kapila Chandrasena as chairman of SriLankan Airlines was quickly revoked following a public outcry. Mr. Chandrasena was the former CEO of SriLankan Airlines and is being investigated for acts of fraud and corruption.