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Palpita accepts President’s DLB request

21 Jun 2021

  • New Development Lotteries Board Chair

  • Nihal Keppetipola to be new SLPA Chair

By Dinitha Rathnayake   Anusha Palpita, who requested to retire from his position as the Ministry of Industries Secretary, announced his willingness to accept the Development Lotteries Board (DLB) chairmanship following the receipt of a special request from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Speaking to The Morning, Palpita said his request to retire from the Ministry Secretary post was due to policy issues he had with Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansa. “Minister Weerawansa has been a friend of mine since 2005 and there are no personal issues as such. However, the reason to request for premature retirement from the said post was because we have policy issues with each other. But President Rajapaksa insisted that I should take over the post of the DLB chairmanship for a short period of time so as to rebuild the DLB. I can’t reject his request,” Palpita said. It was also reported that Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has summoned Palpita and requested him to accept the position. Palpita has previously worked as the DLB General Manager in 2000 when he joined the President’s Fund at the time. Meanwhile, it was reported that General (Retd.) Daya Ratnayake, who has been serving as the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman, was appointed as the new Ministry of Industries Secretary, filling the position left vacant by Palpita. It has also been reported that Nihal Keppetipola is tipped to be appointed as the SLPA Chairman. Keppetipola has served as the former SLPA Managing Director.


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