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Shorter steps up police ladder to clear backlog
By Chandani Kirinde
The Inspectors Association of Sri Lanka has suggested to the IGP that the term of Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) be restricted to five years in that rank as a means of clearing the backlog that was denying many in the lower ranks of their promotions.
The Association has pointed out that the stagnation of those in the senior ranks had lead to the lower ranks being forced to be in the same rank, sometimes for over 15 years.

In 1990 there had been three senior DIGs and 14 DIGs and this number had risen to five senior DIGs and 40 DIGs by the year 2000, an increase of around 160 per cent. However in the lower ranks such as Inspectors of Police (IPs), the number was 2183 in 1990, which increased to 3548 by 2000 which is an increase of around 62 per cent while in the Chief Inspector (CI) ranks the increase was even lower with the 270 CIs in 1990 increasing only to 285 in 2000, an increase of around five per cent.

The Association has also recommended that direct recruitment to the rank of Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs) be stopped as well and that 75 Chief Inspectors be promoted to the rank of ASP each year.

The other recommendations include that a Sub Inspector (SI) who has had eight years of unblemished service be promoted to the rank of Inspector of Police (IP) and after four years in this rank, he be promoted to the rank of CI.

On confirmation in the CI rank, an officer who has completed 15 years of unblemished service in the force be allowed to face the interview board for promotion to ASP grade.
The Association has also recommended that where there are no vacancies to give the necessary promotions, a special pension scheme be introduced so that an officer can retire in twenty years with a bonus of five years' salary as an incentive.

Meanwhile, vacancies still exist in many of the ranks but are yet to be filled. Budget approval had been given as far back as 2001 to fill the vacancies for 104 CIs but this too had not be done, a senior member of the Association said. By the end of May this year, there were 191 vacancies in the CI rank which are yet to be filled even though more than 950 IPs are eligible for promotion to this rank.

A similar situation exists in other ranks as well. An earlier recommendation that the vacancies in the SI rank be filled from those among the senior Sergeants had been turned down by the IGP. The Association had said that such a move would help motivate the men in the force.

Port engineers claim proposed computer system outdated
A Japanese funded computer system to be installed at the Ports Authority has drawn protests from employees who claim that the system is outdated and the Port of Colombo is being used as a testing ground for it.

The consultants, Overseas Coastal Area Development Institute of Japan who are to install the system costing Rs. 1.3 billion are said to have ignored the local engineers' advice.

The Sunday Times learns that the introduction of the system had been discussed at length at a meeting between the Finance Division of the SLPA and the Japanese consultants. Finance Division officials had pointed out that the Jaye Container Terminal (JCT) billing be incorporated into the proposed computer project, but the consultants had refused to do so claiming that it was outside the scope provided to them and requested the Ports officials to make a separate requisition under a new project.

Finance Division officials had refused to do so and insisted that it should be included under the North Pier Development Project (the system to be installed in this project), otherwise the SLPA will not benefit from this system.

Subsequent to this meeting the Finance Manager of the Ports Authority in a letter dated September 1 to the Chairman had pointed out that the system the Authority needs is what is practiced internationally, and if the proposal of the Financial Division is not implemented, in full the SLPA would continue to face the same problems currently experienced.

The Ports Authority Engineers Association has lodged its protest claiming that the consultants on previous occasions had failed due to lack of transparency in their implementation and disregard for opinions of local engineers.

The Association has pointed out that it had requested the consultants to conduct a presentation, which had been rejected on grounds of confidentiality which it claims is unacceptable as the local engineers had not been given a chance to express their views.

" We had requested a detailed copy of the specifications of the complete computerization project to be studied by a group of engineers to enable us to give our feedback within two weeks. We have written to the SLPA Chairman and the Chairman of the Cabinet appointed Tender Board to expand the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) with at least one outside member and call for fresh pre-qualification bids based on reasonable pre-qualification specifications" a spokesperson of the Association told The Sunday Times.

Key OPA proposals ignored
By Shelani Perera
The Government has left out some key proposals suggested by the Organisation of Professionals Association in its code of conduct for Members of Parliament which was unanimously accepted at Monday's Working Committee meeting.

Among the proposals left out are those relating to selflessness and objectivity. The OPA has proposed that MPs should not appoint family or friends to institutions under their purview and that MPs should not be under obligation to anyone who could influence them.

On objectivity the OPA has suggested that merit should be the sole criteria in conduct of public business including making appointments and awarding contracts .
Meanwhile UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya told The Sunday Times that the party adopted proposals from several organizations including the OPA, PAFFREL and CPA.

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