President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the Governors and District Secretaries today that they should personally intervene to maintain essential services and prevent any disruption to the lives of the people.

The President expressed these views at the monthly meeting held with the Governors and District Secretaries at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (02).

The President said that despite the current situation, the country's economy could not be allowed to collapse and that the contribution of all stakeholders was needed to overcome the challenge and move forward as a country.

He called on the Governors and District Secretaries to extend their fullest support to the continuation of the operations at factories and development projects.

The President pointed out the importance of looking into the possibility of operating a factory or carrying out a development project uninterrupted in compliance with health recommendations instead of shutting them down at once when an infected person is detected at a factory or a project premises.

The challenges and problems faced by the people in the face of travel restrictions were discussed at length at the meeting.

President Rajapaksa said that although the government had given instructions to maintain industries and essential services in compliance with proper health recommendations, there were shortcomings in the implementation of this initiative at the divisional level.

The President instructed that the mechanism for distributing surplus fruits and vegetables purchased from the farmers at the divisional level should be properly implemented. He stressed that it was the responsibility of all stakeholders not to allow the agrarian economy to collapse.

The projects that are being implemented with local funds and foreign loan assistance should meet the relevant targets properly.

The President also instructed the Governors and District Secretaries to maintain direct contacts with State Ministers and relevant Secretaries in order to ensure the implementation of government launched projects including the rehabilitation of 10,000 tanks, development of 100,000 kms of rural roads, establishment of 1,000 National Schools and housing, regional hospital, drinking water supply and renewable energy development projects.