Baddegama Council, located in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province, has been taking a lead in supporting local economic development (LED) within its territory. Baddegama is one of six pilot partner councils taking part in CLGF’s DFID funded project: Reducing poverty in the Commonwealth through local economic development. 

The first phase of the project, which has been running in Sri Lanka since 2016, focused on awareness-raising of newly elected councillors. Local government in Sri Lanka has an important responsibility for social care and recognised that there was a need for infrastructure within its mandate (1987 Pradeshya Sabha Act, No 15). Leveraging responsibilities to support and enable the local business community, however, was a very new way for local government to think about its role.

Impact on business community

The Chairman, Hon Anura Narangoda, explained: “When we first began this project, I felt the council already had enough to do: keeping the city clean, early childhood care and so on; but as we worked more on LED I saw the kind of impact we could have in the local community in response to the Business Environment survey, and the potential for working in partnership with local businesses”. 

With the support of the project, the council has developed an LED strategy based on an analysis of the survey and put in place a committee – the Economic Development Committee. This brings together a targeted group of councillors interested in supporting local business with representatives from the local chambers of commerce, the divisional secretariat and various traders associations. This group is actively looking at the challenges faced by local business in the region and suggesting areas where local government can effect or influence change. The Committee is actively involved in reviewing the existing citizen charter and drafting LED internal policy for the council’s approval. 

Concrete actions

In the spirit of building trust, one of the first concrete actions taken by the council following an extensive survey of the local business community – featuring 53 local businesses - was to further improve the service delivery process and review the Citizen Charter for the business community. With a clear need to improve the local fire safety and gully bowser septic service, using the experience of donors, departments and staff members, an emergency response service has now been put in place and can respond to fires in the local areas, protecting local people and local businesses. 

The council is also looking to support Small, Medium and Micro enterprises (SMMEs) by providing specific advertising spaces for them. The community signpost will be located at strategic spots through the council area. Build in-house by the Baddegama sign production workshop this small council investment will increase community awareness of the products and services that can be accessed in their local areas. A 1st role out for eight signboard are planned for October 2019 and there is the potential for further rollout should they prove popular. 

Working with the private sector

As the project moves into its next phase, the council is looking to work more closely with the private sector in the development of investment-ready projects for the local area. Baddegama Council has already partnered with local developers and an agriculture cooperative of women making traditional foods to put in place a small market space providing meals and takeaway food at a key intersection in the city centre. In the next phase of the project the council will be building its capacity to help local business further by supporting the development of bankable project proposals for the mobilisation of private partners for local investment.