The Hon. (Prof.) A.H.M.H. Abayarathna - Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, with regard to the motion moved today at the time of adjournment by Hon. Mano Ganesan, I wish to present a few points. As he stated, within the Nuwara Eliya Administrative District there were five Divisional Secretary’s Divisions—Nuwara Eliya, Ambagamuwa, Kotmale, Walapane and Hanguranketha—established by Gazette in 1992. By Extraordinary Gazette No. 2147/28 dated 29.10.2019, approval was granted to operate 10 Divisional Secretary’s Divisions. Accordingly, the former Ambagamuwa Division was revised into two new Divisional Secretary’s Divisions named Ambagamuwa and Norwood.

¶ 02 As Hon. Mano Ganesan mentioned, those boundaries are correct; what he said is correct. However, within the Nuwara Eliya District, even under minimal office facilities, officers have been appointed and the newly established Divisional Secretary’s Divisions are functioning. Accordingly, utilizing space in a Grama Niladhari office in the Norwood area, steps were taken in 2023 to commence the new office.

¶ 03 That office, which serves more than 200,000 people, is located in a small space of about 1,500 square feet. In other words, it is less than 40 by 40 feet. A staff of 110 serves there. The distance from Hatton town to that office is about 6 kilometres. Due to the minimal space available, both the officers serving there and the public arriving daily to obtain services are under strain. Therefore, a proposal was submitted by the Divisional Secretary to the District Coordinating Committee on 30.01.2025 to move that office to Hatton town.

¶ 04 In Hatton town, a building belonging to the Department of Railways, for which construction commenced in 2016 and was completed in 2020 at a cost of about Rs. 400 million, has not been brought into use to date; it remains closed. Only the ground floor was completed in 2020, while the first and second floors have their concrete frames and roof completed. It is reported that the finished ground floor is about 7,000 square feet. Therefore, instead of the current 1,500 square feet GN office space, it would be possible to operate the Divisional Secretariat on that ground floor of about 7,000 square feet with all necessary facilities. Using this 7,000 square feet building would create a better service environment for the public and staff and allow the effective utilization of a currently unused building.

¶ 05 At the same time, it has been stated by the Station Master of Nanu Oya that a portion of the lower floor is expected to be given to a state institution. Therefore, the District Secretary has submitted this matter to our Ministry for consideration. While the Norwood Divisional Secretariat is being run in a very limited space with limited facilities, causing difficulties to both service recipients and staff, we are prepared to study this proposal and other alternative proposals submitted by the District Secretary to this Ministry. Hon. Mano Ganesan, if there are other alternative proposals, we are ready to study and consider them as well. After obtaining views from various parties, we intend to arrive at an optimal solution acceptable to both staff and service recipients. No final decision has been taken on this. A proposal has come. At first glance, there appears to be some rationale in the proposal. However, that does not mean a final decision has been made. We remain open to further discussion before taking a final decision.

¶ 06 Hon. Member, as you mentioned, it was said as if a secret decision had been taken. I must state that this is not a secret decision. This proposal was presented at the District Coordinating Committee held on 30.01.2025, chaired by Hon. Manjula Suraveera Arachchi, with the participation of the Hon. Governor of the Central Province Sarath B. Abeykoon, Hon. State Minister of Education and Higher Education Madhura Daham Senaviratne, Hon. MP Anushka Darshani Thilakarathna, Hon. MP Krishnan Kileychelchi, Hon. MP V.S. Radhakrishnan, the Chief Secretary of the Central Province, and others. Therefore, there is nothing secret about this. It was a proposal presented openly in a public forum.