‘Tell Minister’ service for complaints about roads and highways
The ‘Tell Minister’ Facebook page was launched recently in accordance with a concept of Minister of Roads and Highways, Ports and Shipping Johnston Fernando to set up a database that could operate as an interface between the Minister and citizens, a communique from the Ministry said.
Members of the public can now present their issues relating to roads and highways directly to the Minister via this service provided under the page ‘Ministry of Roads and Highways’.
People can also notify the Minister of difficulties faced by them on the roads and highways such as issues associated with road signs and signals, and complaints regarding drivers, pedestrians, or any organisation not following road rules and regulations.Minister Johnston Fernando initiated the ‘Tell Minister’ service with the aim of establishing an efficient public service in line with the concept of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
(Government News Portal)
Good idea. Hope it works.
Good initiative but will the Minister listen to the public? To be honest, no politician does.
The Facebook page does not assure complainants of a response within a stipulated time nor does it indicate follow up.
Why wait for the members of the public to complain. He should give the car and travel in public transport to find out the agony of the public.
new broom sweeps well
Someone has made a good start. A step in the right direction . Some people are apt to ridicule or cast aspersions on this venture, Some have already forecast this as a total failure. Let us give the minister a chance to achieve his target.
Such ad-hoc measures such as Facebook pages will not last for long.
The Government should have an Ombudsman’s Office with an extensive web based system linking to all Ministries, Departments, Provicial Administration, State owned enterprises and Local Authorities where the public could lodge complaints.
Statistics on complaints received and complaints resolved should be available on the Ombudsman’s web site.
We are an advanced democracy and openness and transparency should be the bedrock of governanace.
Yahapalana’s RTI intiative and the Office of Missing Persons initiative are admirable.
The Govt should take the enxt step and ensure proper complaint management through the Ombusman.