http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/11/23/pol02.asp

President tells Ministers :
Show more commitment
Chaminda Perera
*No room for corruption, malpractices
*Avoid unnecessary expenditure
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said that the Ministers and Deputy Ministers should show more commitment to serve the public and their services are required to take the country into greater heights in terms of development.
He said that people will no longer consider it as an honour when Ministers roam with 10 to 15 back up vehicles with loads of security personnel. He stressed that Ministers should discharge what they are expected by the people without being egoistic.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was speaking after the 59-member Cabinet of Ministers and 31 Deputy Ministers took oaths before him at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.
President Rajapaksa added that there should be no room for corruption and malpractices in the Ministries and gave clear instructions not to increase unnecessary expenditures in Ministries.
The President said the Government was entrusted with a responsibility of freeing the country from the scourge of terrorism and it succeeded in executing that responsibility within three years.
He expressed hope that the newly appointed Ministers and Deputy Ministers will discharge their duties and responsibilities properly. President Rajapaksa lauded two Deputy Ministers who opted to remain as Deputy Ministers. “They expressed their wish to remain as Deputy Ministers in two Ministries under my purview,” he added. He said that every single word uttered by Cabinet Minister becomes a Government statement.
The President said the Cabinet ministers should pay extra focus on what they are saying in public.
Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga was also present.