President Maithripala Sirisena has given instructions to the Secretaries to the Ministries to continuously carry out the programmes implemented under the purview of the Ministries and at institutional level , without leaving any room to have shortfalls or hindrance on any development project of the country.

The President has given these instructions during a meeting with the Ministry Secretaries held  yesterday (Feb 16), at Presidential Secretariat.

Expressing his views regarding the information he received that certain Ministries are not functioning properly during this post-election period, said that the policy of the Government regarding the development process of the country will not change under any circumstance.
  
‘It is common to occur changes in the field of politics afterwards the election’, said the President adding that  the responsibility lies on the Secretaries to continue the development projects according to the policies of the government for the betterment of the people, ignoring the political situations.

President Sirisena pointed out the need of solving issues arise at institutional level when implementing that process  and further advised to continue development projects while reviewing progress of those projects.

The President instructed the Ministry Secretaries to inform the relevant Ministers to arrange meetings within this month, as already, the appropriate timetables to hold District Development Committee meetings and Regional Development Committee meetings have been sent. 

The President also said that he expects to visit every Ministry in the future to look into the programmes carry out at the ministerial level.

The President further said that he expects to implement necessary plans in the agricultural field as well as in the food production process while facing the future drought situations and climate changes, following the consultation with the geologists, scientists and other relevant experts.

Further attention was paid to the issue of coconut prices and the need to take stern actions against the individuals who violates the act on land divisions.
Discussions were also held to provide necessary facilities for small scale planters under the Ministry of Plantation Industries for coconut cultivation.

Further, the President emphasized the need to promote coconut cultivation in areas where coconut is not cultivated.

Ministry Secretaries including the Secretary to the President Austin Fernando participated in this meeting.