Responding to a proclamation by President Maithripala Sirisena, Parliament will sit this morning to move an adjournment debate on the Meethotamulla tragedy and to pass the decision he took to identify garbage-related matters as an essential service.
The President, issuing the proclamation as per the powers vested in him by Section 2 (3) of the Public Security Ordinance read with Article 70 (1) of the Constitution, plans to update lawmakers on an order of declaration of essential services.
According to Extraordinary gazette notification 2016/30 of 25 April 2017, under Section 17 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40), all services, work or labour of any description whatsoever, necessary or required to be done in connection with any undertaking performed or maintained by any local authority or for and on behalf of any such local authority, for the clearance, collection, transportation, temporary storage, processing, separation, treatment, disposal and sale of street refuse, house refuse or other similar matters were identified as essential services.
With the today’s sitting scheduled to commence at 9.30 a.m., Parliament will be apprised of the said declaration, which held that the maintenance of such services were essential to the life of the community and were necessary in the public interest in terms of Section 21 (2) of the Public Security Ordinance read with Section 2 (3). Unless Parliament passes the declaration of the essential services within 20 days of its announcement, such a directive will cease to exist. AH
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