Ranil queries demarcation of local govt. divisions 

By Saman Indrajith-June 6, 2014

Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday in Parliament demanded to know whether a report containing the recommendations to demarcate the divisions of the Local Authorities had been submitted to the President.

Making a special statement Wickremesinghe said: "The term of office of the presently existing Local Authorities terminates by the first quarter of 2015.  Accordingly, the next Local Authorities Election will be held under the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2012.

I would like to state that this question is asked as the political parties need to know the electoral divisions and their allocated numbers in order to prepare for the next Local Authorities Election. 

As mentioned in Part I of that Act, a National Delimitation Committee has to be established to demarcate the Local Authority Divisions. Through that Committee, the recommendations to demarcate the Divisions of the Local Authorities should be submitted to the Minister.  Further, the delimitation and assigning numbers to those divisions should be effected.

As per Section (5) 3a of Part I, the relevant task should be finalised and a report should be submitted to the Minister by the date set out by the National Committee. 

It is further stated in the Act that, consequently, the said report should immediately be submitted to the President whereupon the President should publish it through a Gazette notification.

I wish to get replies to the following questions from the Minister of Local Authorities and Provincial Councils. Was a National Delimitation Committee established as per Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2012?  When was it established?  Was a date fixed to submit the report to that Committee?  What is that date?  Was the report submitted?  If so, when?  If a report has been submitted, was it presented to the President?  If so, when?"

Minister of Local Authorities and Provincial Council A.L.M. Athaulla said the minister had been vested with the powers to defer local government elections by one more year. In case the delimitation of local authorities would not be finished, the elections to be held in the first quarter of 2015 would be extended by one year.

"The delimitation committee has completed their first draft on demarcating the local authorities on March 7, this year. Yet there are some other problems and issues to be addressed in this regard. Some local authorities do not have permanent demarcations. Some Grama Niladhari divisions come under several bodies of local government. These problems have to be sorted out and it is our expectation that these could be solved and finalised by the end of this year. Thus, there would be no problem of holding the elections for local government authorities in the first quarter of 2015. In case that task would not be completed and further problems arising, the Minister is vested with the powers to extend the elections by one year," he said.