By Tharumalee Silva Moves by the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to introduce a new flying squad to increase efficiency and combat corruption at construction sites are facing stiff resistance. Municipal Commissioner Palitha Nanayakkara, whom the squad will be functioning under, told The Sunday Morning that the appointments will be finalised next month and the interviews for positions in the squad were still in progress. “The motion was presented to the council members and we are awaiting approval,” he said. After the confirmation, Nanayakkara stated that they will finalise the members of the squad. “The squad will consist of ex-officers of the tri-forces – Sri Lanka Army, Navy, and Air Force – and the Police, but nothing is finalised as yet,” said Nanayakkara. He further stated that the need for the flying squad arose when the CMC discovered that several officers on CMC engineering sites were distracted and often disappeared for the day after confirming their attendance with their fingerprint. “Most of the employees sign in with their fingerprint and don’t work on site; they go and work odd jobs and engage in other activities while they’re supposed to be at work,” he said. The functions of the squad will involve, but would not be limited to, checking on the performance of the CMC employees. He noted that the functions of this special committee were not finalised as of yet and the hierarchy is still in discussion regarding the allocation of duties. However, some members of the CMC raised strong objections on the matter. Municipal Councillor of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Hemantha Weerakoon stated that there is no need for a new flying squad. “We believe that there should be a flying squad as a policy. However, there is an already existing flying squad,” he said. According to Weerakoon, the new flying squad is being introduced due to the lack of efficiency on part of the flying squad already in existence. “They say the existing squad is inefficient – their work is below average and below satisfactory. Therefore, they have decided to get the private sector involved to introduce a new flying squad. We told them that it is unethical and wrong to get the private sector involved in government matters,” said Weerakoon. Obstacles in carrying out duties He further alleged that it was due to the pressure put on the old squad by the CMC’s hierarchy that the old squad failed to take action against the discrepancies they discovered within the council. “The employees in the flying squad were completely disregarded; they did not receive any benefits or sufficient infrastructure to carry out their jobs. They were given a broken vehicle and they weren’t even given a computer to type out and lodge the complaints they receive. So how do you expect them to carry out their duties?” questioned Weerakoon. He said that despite the hardships faced, the squad managed to conduct 63 raids pertaining to discrepancies that took place within the CMC, adding: “After they handed out reports and told the authorities to take action, the authorities above the flying squad have a duty to conduct investigations into the matter. Without conducting investigations, they’re now trying to transfer the blame onto the old flying squad,” he said. Weerakoon further stated that the new squad is to be appointed under the leadership of an ex-tri-forces officer. Weerakoon said that appointing tri-forces leaders into the squad is not going to solve any problem. “If they appoint a brigadier, then they have to provide them with vehicles that suit the position of a brigadier and provide vehicles for his subordinates too. The end result of this is going to be that the CMC authorities that are appointing the squad will actually carry out their own objectives through it,” he said. He further stated that this is a completely unlawful move on the part of the hierarchy of the CMC, pointing out that former members of the military may not have the necessary qualifications to carry out administrative work. Highlighting the administrative patterns in the engineering sites at the CMC, Weerakoon stated that there are supervisors who have to keep up with the technical officers and the district engineers with regard to their employees’ progress. It is the responsibility of the hierarchy to ensure that these people are brought to justice. “After the complaints are lodged, they need to take action against the employees who practise this behaviour,” said Weerakoon. Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake decided to introduce the new flying squad after concluding that the existing flying squad under the Assistant Director failed to carry out their duties.