I have a tenfold plan to make SL an economic, cultural hub in South Asia

Milinda Rajapaksha,who is contesting for the Colombo Municipal Council, under the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) ticket, says the time has arrived for youth and young professionals to enter the political arena to clean up the corrupt political culture prevalent in the country.

"We the SLPP, as a team, wanted to create a safe, smart and sound Colombo city for our generations to come, but that doesn't mean changing it into another Singapore. Our city should be a unique one with its extraordinary culture," Mr Rajapaksha told the Sunday Times, assuring he has a tenfold plan in his manifesto to reach that goal of making us another economic and cultural hub in the South Asian region.

His manifesto sets out comprehensive plans on how this city can be converted into being resilient to climate change, natural disasters and global economic collapses, where people would live in a healthy environment without any pollution.

As someone engaged in politics for a long time, since youth, Mr Rajapaksha served in many government institutions in various capacities in the past, including Working Director of National Youth Services Council, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, from 2013 to 2015.

Mr Rajapaksha, former ardent supporter of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) said, he, along with a strong team of activists like himself, decided to contest for CMC under SLPP ticket, considering the current political scenario where major political parties have failed to put forward a sustainable development plan for the city.

"Considering the past CMC administrations, it has been a disaster where thugs, henchmen and corrupt politicians ran the Council without any proper plan. Their inability, inefficiency, incompetence and corruption has consigned the common man into severe debt," he said, while emphasising that this is the reason why young professionals like himself decided to step in.