New Trust to be showcase model for transparency & accountability
The new Trust set up by the district to administer the Rotary Schools project will be a showcase model of total transparency and accountability, pledged Chairman Past District Governor K. Ravindran.
“We will administer this project like a private sector management company with due processes in place and total transparency at all times” he stressed.
The Trust has some very eminent persons with impeccable records of integrity and capability and includes Past District Governors Tissa Bandaranayake and N. Gajendran – both partners of Audit and Tax Companies of international repute.
All stakeholders including our main partner Standard Chartered Bank, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education will be represented on the Apex Committee of the Trust.
District forges on with great enthusiasm and commitment
A District Meeting held on Saturday to review progress of the Schools project and the event witnessed some very enthusiastic and lively debate and a great spirit of camaraderie as the entire district bonded together in true Rotary spirit.
A great deal of progress had been made by most clubs and many of them shared some innovative ideas regarding the designing of buildings and materials that could be used in the construction. Many of them had spent the previous long holiday weekend traveling to their allotted schools for initial estimates and cleaning up work.
Every single Rotary Club in the country was assigned a role in the challenging task of rebuilding the schools. Every School allocated to Rotary was assigned a Lead Club and two Associate Clubs who would be responsible for the supervision and logistical support of the work on the school.
Core Committee of Architects to assist district
A core committee of architects has also been set up to examine all estimates submitted and recommend awarding of contracts etc. Rtn Amal Tudawe of Tudawe Brothers Limited has kindly agreed to head this committee and select a suitable panel to serve on it. The committee will assist any club in the district requiring their services or advice. All services will be provided free of charge.
Minimal Administration costs ensures optimum use of funding
All the Rotarians involved in the administration of the project have provided their services totally free of charge. Many of them have virtually taken leave from their offices to work on the project almost full-time. The district intends setting up a Project Office and hiring a professional engineer to function as Project Manager and co-ordinate the work and thus will incur some costs towards administration but this is expected to be very minimal.
