Central Province Governor Dr. Suranga Fernando has suspended the functions of the Pathahewaheta Pradeshiya Sabha in the Kandy District, a local authority controlled by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, with effect from 19 October.
The suspension was effected by an Extraordinary Gazette issued on 19 October, the Daily Mirror reported at 9.57 a.m. Hiru News, filing at 8.28 a.m., confirms the governor’s gazette, the SJB control and the 19 October effective date.
The council’s powers do not lapse — they transfer. The governor has directed A.W.G.L. Attanayake, Assistant Commissioner of Local Government for the Kandy District, to exercise the powers and perform the duties both of the Pradeshiya Sabha and of its chairman.
The inquiry came first
The suspension is the second step in a process that began a month ago. An earlier Extraordinary Gazette of 22 September appointed retired judicial officer Nihal Sunil Rajapaksha to inquire into whether the chairman, the vice chairman and other members of the authority have committed offences under Section 185(1) of the Pradeshiya Sabha Act.
That sequence matters for how the suspension should be read. It is not a finding against the council; it is an administrative step taken while an inquiry under the Act is running, four weeks after that inquiry was constituted.
Not reported
Neither filing states what the alleged offences are, what prompted the September inquiry, whether Rajapaksha has reported, or how long the suspension is to run. Neither reports a response from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, from the suspended chairman, or from any member of the council. Neither says whether the ratepayers’ services — the practical question for residents of Pathahewaheta — are affected by the transfer of powers.
Ada Derana also filed on this story, but its CloudFront block on this host is in its thirty-second day and the article could not be fetched, so no date could be extracted for it and it is not cited here.
