Government had lost a golden opportunity - GL

government keeps passing the responsibility of the disastrous situation to various factions and charged lack of coordination and lack of communication had worsened the impact of the situation.

“The Prime Minister blames the officials of not informing him beforehand about the high rainfall. There is no point in leaving the country after blaming officials,” he said.

Commenting on the epidemics which could spread in the aftermath of floods, Professor Peiris said next focus should be made to mitigate the impact of health risks.

The government had lost a golden opportunity to effectively provide relief goods and emergency assistance to the flood victims as well as to mitigate the impact of the natural disasters as it keeps postponing the election for Local Government (LG) bodies,” the Joint Opposition said yesterday.

Addressing a news briefing, Professor G. L. Peiris said there are 2,628 representatives of 335 LG bodies across the country and these institutions remain inactive for two years.

“LG bodies are an integral part of the state mechanism. The government could have easily utilized these 2,628 members to respond to disasters and to provide relief more effectively compared with the 225 MPS. After all, LG bodies’ representatives are the closest to the people and know better about their region,” he said.

Had these LG institutions were operative, there would have been a clear change in providing relief to the victims,” he added.

The professor said the