MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN
COLOMBO : The Colombo Municipal Commissioner Roshanie Dissanayake has rejected the decision of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to revoke the online scheme for payment of contractors.
On July 19, the CMC decided to revoke the online payment system introduced by the Colombo Municipal Commissioner from January 1, this year.
The commissioner said here on Sunday, August 1, that the online payment system of the Colombo Municipal Council for payments over Rs 10,000 will be continued despite the recent decision taken by the council members against making such payments.
Speaking to the Colombo Times , the commissioner recalled that the online payment scheme was introduced by her from January 1 this year to avoid the congestion of the crowd who came to collect their cheques at the Town Hall to prevent the fast spread of the Covid virus.
“ This mode of online payment is being successfully implemented and the customers are happy to receive their payments through bank to bank transfers without having to come to the Town Hall,” she said, pointing out that the council members of the CMC had taken a decision to revoke this decision and revert it to the old payment scheme through cheques.
“ The health sector is working hard to control the covid, and the city’s people could be at risk of covid again from the Municipal council’s arbitrary actions,: Dissanayake said, pointing out such arbitrary decisions of the council will again put the people of the city at risks of covid again.
The Commissioner said that a large number of people who came to the Municipal Council to collect cheques have been stopped by the online payment system and its reversal is putting the city at risks of covid.
“ Payment online is an administrative decision and the councilors cannot interfere with such decisions,” Dissanayake said.
“ We will not implement such decisions, which pave the way for risky, arbitrary and financial corruptions, ”she stressed.
“ This online scheme of payment was developed in collaboration with the People’s Bank. It did not cost the council a rupee. It is the discretion of the Municipal Commissioner to determine the method of payment. The council cannot act arbitrarily to change that,” she categorically said.
When asked from the Deputy Mayor of Colombo, M.T.M.Iqbal his comments, he told Colombo Times that the Finance Committee of the CMC took the decision to revoke the current online system based on representations of the contractors who had faced several hurdles in getting their payment processed.
He said the CMC decision on this matter is final and binding and the CMC rule will be overruled since the council is acting in the interests of the ratepayers in Colombo.
