The Joint Development Officers’ (DOs) Centre yesterday (22) announced that Development Officers will launch an island-wide strike on 9 November over several unresolved demands.

Centre General Secretary Dhammika Munasinghe said that despite repeatedly bringing their grievances to the attention of the authorities, no satisfactory solutions had been provided.

He said the Government had come to power pledging to resolve the issues faced by DOs, but several longstanding problems remained unaddressed.

“DOs don’t have a clearly defined list of duties or an established promotion scheme. There is a 10-year waiting period for promotions between grades, and there is no higher grade. Their training period lasts one year, but they haven’t been absorbed into the permanent service. There is also a significant salary disparity. None of these issues has been addressed,” he said.

The Centre said the proposed island-wide strike was intended to draw attention to these unresolved grievances and press the authorities to provide solutions.