Govt. spends Rs.9.5 mln monthly for chairmen of defunct provincial councils

The Government is spending millions of rupees to maintain chairmen of nine provincial councils and their personnel staff although these councils are now defunct and was being run by their respective governors following the end of their five-year terms at various points.

According to Treasury data, a sum of Rs. 9.5 million is being spent monthly for these provincial council chairmen and their personnel staff wasting public money amounting to Rs.114 million last year.

The present scenario at the provincial councils has created an environment where the officials in the councils operate without any public representation, a senior official of the Provincial Council Ministry said adding that only the chairmen and their staff of these councils are still functioning.

Provincial polls in Sri Lanka were postponed in 2017 when the then government proposed a hybrid system of first-past-the-post and proportional representation.

The Attorney General has made it clear that polls to the nine provinces cannot be held until the 2017 Act is amended and passed in parliament and it is still pending.

However, a senior ministry official has noted that the proposal to reactivate the already expired provincial councils is not practical and that there are no such provisions in the law. (Bandula)