For the first time in the history citizens of Dehigahabedda in Ambalangoda Pradeshiya Saba division in Galle district had an opportunity to meet with the officials of the Pradeshiya Saba including the chairman to inform priorities in their village.
TISL facilitated this meeting which was organised by the Ambalangoda Pradeshiya Sabha during the local governance week. The chairman of the Ambalangoda Pradeshiya Sabha Pushpalal Kumarasinghe and elected representatives along with the public officials attended the meeting.
This is part of a series of programmes targeted at making citizens aware of citizen participation in local governance. The programme was held in Dehigahabedda community hall.
Citizens were consulted of the development needs in the area and their level of satisfaction of the service delivered to them by Ambalangoda Pradeshiya Sabha. At the meeting the chairman himself invited citizens to contribute and participate in Pradeshiya Sabha activities.
Citizens from Dehigahabedda village had remained isolated and cut off from services entitled to them from the PS for years. They got an opportunity to initiate links with public officials of the Amablangoda PS as a result of this meeting. This meeting provided an opportunity for citizens to learn how to actively engage in governance processes and demand their rights. Lawyer Jagath Liyanaarachchi manager Shelter for Integrity and Ananda Jaysekera manager Local Governance Projects gave their inputs as resource persons at this meeting.