While stating that the Department of Posts is yet to make requests from the Election Commission (EC) with regard to fund allocations for the upcoming Local Government (LG) poll’s postal vote-related activities, the newly appointed Postmaster General Palitha Sathkumara stated yesterday (9) that currently there is no issue regarding funds as the department is in possession of sufficient funds, noting however that if necessary, the department would hold discussions regarding the same with the Treasury.
Addressing the media further, he said that currently, postal voting activities are being carried out as normal.
When queried by the media regarding what they would do if the funds are not released from the Treasury, Sathkumara stated: “For now, we have no issues. If necessary, we would discuss it with the Treasury. We would function according to the decisions taken by the Government. When the postal ballots are handed over to us by the EC, we can distribute them to the relevant places. There is an experienced staff with me and I have an organisational structure. We can distribute the postal ballots without any problem during the said period,” he added.
When questioned whether postal votes can be distributed during the scheduled dates of 27, 28, and 29 March, he said: “If the postal ballots are handed over to us on time, through our network, they could definitely be distributed. We were always ready to carry out the relevant duties. We have the ability to carry out the duties within the said period. For some districts, postal ballot papers would be distributed within one or two days and in some areas, a maximum of four days would be taken to distribute them.”
Earlier, according to directives provided by the EC, Government Printer Gangani Liyanage stated that she had written to the Treasury on Wednesday (8) to release the remaining funds of more than Rs. 300 million required to recommence the activities of ballot paper printing for the upcoming LG poll and had forwarded a written request to Inspector General of Police Chandana D. Wickramaratne requesting the provision of adequate security for the same.
Source : Themorning
