Nation requires a public service that maintains professionalism: President

A nation requires a public service that maintains professionalism, competence, discipline and accountability across all sectors, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday.

President Dissanayake made these remarks while attending the ceremony to award President’s Colours and the commissioning of cadet officers of the Sri Lanka Air Force at a ceremony held at the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy in China Bay.

‘The safety of our nation’s skies rests in your hands. It is a noble and irreplaceable responsibility. We have full confidence that you will fulfil this great duty entrusted to you to protect our motherland and ensure the safety of our people,” the President said.

He also said the SLAF has a vital role in ensuring the security and surveillance of the country’s maritime borders. “Our maritime borders have increasingly become entry points for illegal migration, smuggling, drug trafficking and in recent times, even the infiltration of arms. Therefore, protecting our coastal boundaries is not only a duty to the motherland but also a responsibility owed to the people who live within it,” the President said.

He also spoke on the importance of professionalism across every field.

“Every public institution carries a specific responsibility and citizens have rightful expectations regarding how those duties are performed. Public servants receive their salaries and benefits from the taxes paid by the people, yet we know that some have allowed their professional duties to be neglected or even directed against the public interest. As a result, the professionalism that once defined the public service has, to a large extent, deteriorated,” he said.

This awarding of colours ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retired), Secretary of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retired), Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Gunatilaka, Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force, Air Marshal Bandu Edirisinghe, senior Air Force officers, other personnel, newly commissioned cadet officers and the parents of the cades.