MEDIA ADVISORY
HRM to Share Financial and Technical Knowledge With Visiting Sri Lankan Study Group
(Friday, August 17/07) – Halifax Regional Municipality will host a study group of Sri Lankan local government officials and municipal staff next week as part of an ongoing program to support municipalities in Asia devastated by the December 2004 Tsunami, which killed more than 20,000 people in that nation alone.
The group, who will be in Halifax from August 21-24, is visiting HRM to observe municipal automated business practices, to learn various customer service models in place in Canada, and to learn more about Council/staff interaction methods and tools.
The visit is part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Canada/Sri Lanka Municipal Cooperation Program (MCP), which is co-sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency. In partnership with Sri Lankan local authorities, communities, and sector leaders, the program assists municipalities in Sri Lanka devastated by the 2004 tsunami.
Participating Canadian local government officials and staff provide technical assistance in restoring basic local services and basic management capacity, as well as encouraging greater citizen participation in the rehabilitation of their communities.
Five Districts in Sri Lanka were selected for the program: Galle, Kalmunai/Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Matara. These local authorities act as anchor communities and are expected to disseminate and communicate their models to other local governments. In addition MCP will provide support on a provincial level for the Sri Lankan government.
The first mission involving HRM took place in June 2007 and was a great success. The focus of the mission was to assist finance departments in the Sri Lankan communities and two HRM finance managers, Catherine Sanderson and Bruce Fisher, were selected by FCM to participate. Part of the process to create capacity in the local authorities involves automation of records and to provide training so the Sri Lankan finance departments can use computers for accounting and billing processes. Currently, most records are maintained in manual ledgers.
Following the HRM visit, the study group will split into two teams and travel to Mount Pearl, Nfld., and Kitchener, Ontario, for one week, before reconvening in Toronto for debriefing and their departure to Sri Lanka.
Note to Editors: members of the delegation will be touring City Hall, Council Chambers etc. on Thursday, August 23, at 1:30 PM, and will be available to meet with the media in Halifax Hall at 2:30 PM.
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Catherine Sanderson
Senior Manager, HRM Financial Services
490-1562
