MEDIA ADVISORY
Media Availability Session for Sri Lankan Study Group
(Wednesday, August 22/07) – Halifax Regional Municipality is hosting a study group of Sri Lankan government officials this 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 are in Halifax until August 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 tries to assist municipalities in southeast Asia devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Participating Canadian local government officials provide technical assistance in restoring basic local services and basic management capacity, as well as encouraging great citizen participation in the rehabilitation of their communities.
Five Districts in Sri Lanka were selected for the program: Galle, Kalmunai/Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Matara/Hambantota. 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.
Note to Editors: members of the delegation will be touring City Hall, Council Chambers etc. on Thursday, August 23, at 1:30 p.m., and be available to meet with the media in Halifax Hall at 2:30 p.m.
The first mission 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 the 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 Hamilton for one week, before reconvening in Toronto at FCM headquarters for debriefing and their departure to Sri Lanka.
-30-
Catherine Sanderson
Senior Manager, HRM Financial Services
490-1562
