The President was addressing the staff of the President’s Office at Nelum Pokuna Theatre yesterday (12th July). He met his staff with the objective of making the Presidential Secretariat an institution with higher efficiency.

He added that the Presidential Secretariat should continue its performance through a new program, setting an example to the entire government service of 1.4 million employees.

“The guidance to the government servants depends on the success of the political leadership, management and the administration. I do not blame the government servants if there are shortcomings. The political authority should be responsible for that”, the President stated.

The President said that he will attend the progress review meetings of each ministry from next month and the evaluations of the outcomes of those meetings will be done through the President’s office.

Fraud, corruption, irregularities should not occur under any circumstance, and the whole staff must commit to fulfill their responsibilities in a transparent and clean manner, the President further said.

President Sirisena said that the relief measures carried out by the public servants during the recent natural disasters, undoubtedly revealed their dedication, skills and humane qualities and expressed his gratitude for the commitment made by the entire public service.

Senior officials of the Presidential Secretariat, including the Secretary to the President, Austin Fernando and all staff members were present at the meeting.