Colombo, Sri Lanka: More than a month has rolled by since a retired army officer was appointed Government Agent of Trincomalee. Only now has the Sri Lankan administrative service raised its objection. They have pointed out that it was a bad precedent to appoint a retired army officer to an administrative post meant for civil servants.

They have also expressed regret over the manner in which K.Leelananda was removed from the post of government agent of Trincomalee.

They have further pointed out that Public Service Commission has not been notified of this appointment. They have also stated that the Presidential Secretariat has rejected their request to replace the retired army officer Major General Silva with a civil servant

It must also be viewed that the Trincomalee district is an area where there are controversial issues to which army is a party. In such a context, the appointment of a person with an army background causes much concern. It is a reasonable demand that a civil servant be appointed as the government agent of Trincomalee, where there are frequent allegations of excesses by security forces.

It must also be noted that in the district where 75% of the people are Tamil speaking, no Tamil has ever been appointed as a government agent during the last 58 years since independence. Therefore the concern over the present appointment is grave!

An English translation of the Editorial in Thinakkural, a Tamil National daily, based in Colombo

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