No more Divineguma administrative zones

The Government has dismantled six new administrative zones set up by former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa under the Divineguma Act.

The zones were set up in January 2014 and came into effect over and above other administrative divisions such as education and health. Section 8 of the Divineguma Act, under which this was done, also allowed for Cabinet to appoint a head to each division “of a similar standing to that of a head of a government department”.

Housing and Samurdhi Minister Sajith Premadasa, under whose purview the Divineguma Department now falls, said dismantling of zones was part of a streamlining process. “It’s a political apparatus stocked with political stooges,” he told the Sunday Times.

Mr Premadasa said that the money saved will go into a welfare fund for Samurdhi animators. “The separate administrative apparatus was a waste,” he reiterated, adding that an international audit of his ministry was continuing. Twenty-five Divineguma deputy directors have been diverted to Samurdhi work and another 150 appointments have been stopped.

“Installing deputy directors was an unnecessary bureaucratic structure,” the Minister said. “Not only were there directors and deputy directors, each electorate, too, had a different coordinator.”

(NW)