A Leader is only as good as the team that He surrounds himself with….
Posted on September 18th, 2017
Dr Sarath Obeysekera /CEO Walkrs Colombo Shipyard
Quoted from a feature article in Sunday newspaper ………….
I read this article in the Sunday paper and I am of the opinion that all ministers ,including Minister of Megapolis should learn from President Premadasa President and the Housing minister were not Oxford or Harvard educated. They knew how to select the team to execute certain tasks entrusted by the people The names of the team is listed here ,and some are not living anymore and some are working with son of the Ex-president ….
The following is the team that planned, managed and implemented the national human settlements development program under the directions of President Ranasinghe Premadasa.
- B. Sirisena Cooray: Minister of Urban Development Housing & Construction
- Chandra ranatunge: Project Minister for Construction & Building Materials
- Imitiaz Bakeer Markar: Minister of State for Housing Development
- W.D. Ailapperuma (SLAS): Secretary to the Ministry
- Micheal E. Joachim (Civil Engineer/SLES): Additional Secretary
- Conrad de Tissera (Civil Engineer/SLES): Additional Secretary
- Manik Nagahawatta (Central Bank Staff): Director of Planning
- Susil Siriwardena (SLAS): Chairman/ National Housing Development Authority
- T.B. Madugalle (Civil Engineer): Chairman/ National Water Supply & Drainage Board
- Willie Mendis (University Don): Chairman/ Urban Development Authority
- Sarath Obeysekara (Mechanical Engineer): Chairman/ Sri Lanka Land Relaxation & Development Corporation
- Dayantha Wijesekara (University Don): Chairman, Institute for Construction Training & Development
- N D Peiris (Civil Engineer): Chairman/ State Engineering Corporation
- Michel Pereira (Mechanical Engineer): Ceylon Steel Corporation
- T. Mahalingam (SLAS): Chairman/ Common Amenities Board
- B. Premachandra (Chemical Engineer): Chairman/ Ceylon Cement Corporation
- A.C.A. Jabbar (Chartered Accountant): Chairman/ Building Materials Corporation
- P. Kanagasabhapathi (Retired Central Bank Staff): Chairman/ Housing development Finance Corporation
- Y M I Bandara (Civil Engineer/ SLES): Director of Buildings
- F de Saram (Mechanical Engineer/SLES): Government Factory Engineer
- G. Karunaratne (SLAS): Commissioner of National Housing
- Tilak Hewawasam (SLAS): Director/ Community Water Supply & sanitation Project
- Geethi Karunaratne (Civil Engineer/ SLES): Director/ Center for housing, Planning & Building
- Siri Hattotuwegama (SLAS): Director/ Gam Udawa Secretariat
- Vasantha Coomaraswamy (Private Sector Business): Competent Authority/ Colombo Commercial Co. (Engineers) Ltd.
What a team! They were a blend of administrators, engineers and academics, – all of them with long experience behind them-, united in a singleness of purpose. They also incidentally represented all ethnic groups in the country – Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim & Burgher.
List Complied by W D Ailapperuma
Dr Sarath Obeysekera /CEO Walkrs Colombo Shipyard
September 18th, 2017 at 5:34 pm
I once witnessed a cart loaded with river sand that hand slid back into the water and the driver of the cart, battling to get it back to terra firma. Unfortunately for him, the two bulls chose to move east and west rather than forward. Needless to say the sand loaded cart, sank deeper into the water and the bulls were unharnessed, before they drowned. Is this drama
unfolding in the Political corridors of our Island nation?
September 19th, 2017 at 3:25 am
Hope the present government put honest people to run the country and go after the crooks that have robbed the country.
Get rid of some of the absurd privileges to some where one is exempted from import taxes on cars which is not given to other wealth creators of the country.
Don’t have un educated running our ministries and they should never be members in the parliament. I blame the political parties for this sorry state for sending these crooks to the parliament..