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A people’s participation programme the main focus of “Clean Sri Lanka”, says Govt.
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Chaminda Jayasuriya
By Chandani Kirinde
The “Clean Sri Lanka” project which will be the cornerstone of Government policy for the next five years will be a ‘people’s programme’ and not a ‘political programme’, an official overseeing the initiative said.
Chaminda Jayasuriya, a member of the project said public participation and cooperation will be the key to the success of this programme.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake kicked off the New Year by launching the ambitious “Clean Sri Lanka” project, an all-encompassing programme that aims, not only to clean up the environment but bring about societal attitude change to bring about a social and ethical awakening in the country.
As a prelude to the launch of the programme on January 1, the President appointed an 18-member task force in December, with the Secretary to the President, Commanders of the three armed forces and the Acting IGP among its members. The task force will oversee the implementation of the programme.
State sector employees began work on January 1 by taking the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ pledge to work toward achieving the objectives of the programme at ceremonies held islandwide. This was in accordance with a circular issued by the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government.
The programme will be citizen-centric with public participation being a priority. Public donations too are being sought to fund the project. “There will be transparency in all financial matters related to the programme. The public can access details of donations received and funds allocated online on the Clean SL website as well as on other online platforms of government institutions. We will ensure there is transparency in the way the programme is conducted,” Mr.Jayasuriya said.
The President addressing the gathering at the launch of the project
The initial phase which is underway is to raise awareness and encourage people’s participation while also engaging with local authorities who are tasked with garbage collection and other activities in their localities.
Another focus of the programme will be beach clean-ups. “We have 1,300 kilometres of coastline and keeping the beaches clean is one of the goals of the programme. For this we have held meetings with those in the tourism sector who operate along the coastlines to get their support,” he said.
The Sri Lanka Police will be one of the driving forces in the initiative. The Police began inspecting vehicles with illegal modifications, loud silencers, and other equipment causing public inconvenience, as part of the programme.
The Environmental Police section of the Police Department too will be reactivated under the Clean SL programne with additional personnel assigned to the section.
The Public Administration Ministry in its circular titled “Commencement of Work of the Year 2025 along with the National Programme “Clean Sri Lanka” underscored the role of public officials in building a more efficient service as well as fostering unity.
One aim is to change certain negative attitudes that the public harbour toward the public service and turn it into a citizen-centric service so that it fulfils the aspirations of the people.
The main event in front of the Presidential Secretariat. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
“The public service has the responsibility to restore the credibility of the public by implementing the proposals of the government. The stability of the public service is decisive for a country’s development. The year 2025 should lay the foundation for a progressive transformation by way of taking action as far as possible to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, accuracy and transparency of the public service with the application of digitalisation as a tool,” the Ministry said in the circular. 
The Public Administration also apprised public officials of their role in fostering national unity.
“The citizens, in their efforts for the development of their country, should emerge as one nation devoid of racial, religious, caste, political and geographical prejudices. A huge space is now open to build ethnic harmony, which is the long -term aspiration of the people,” the circular said.
The Government hopes to build on the unprecedented electoral victory it achieved in elections held last year, keen not to miss the powerful momentum to build a stable social structure and closing every door for religious and
racial extremism.
The Clean SL programme will cover all sectors including the construction, infrastructure development sectors to ensure that proper standards are mentioned in the future in these sectors.
“The main objective is to make it a process in which people can freely participate and extend their support so that the entire country can benefit from it. While there are laws to deal with those who violate the law, our focus is more on the public voluntarily getting engaged with the programme than on punitive measuers,” he said.
Rajagiriya: Election Commission officials watch the launch of the programme.
Left to right: Clean-up projects at Beruwela harbour, Anuradhapura and the Parakrama Samudraya.
Pix by Thusitha Kumara de Silva, G.B. Chaturanga and Namal Jayaratne
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