Cabinet expands to 19 with 6 more Ministers

Tuesday, 24 May 2022 01:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Cabinet was expanded to 19 yesterday with the appointment of eight more Ministers by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Among the appointees were those who were sworn in with different portfolios last week.

The latest appointments were as follows. Mahinda Amaraweera - Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest. Bandula Gunawardana - Mass Media, Transport and Highways. Ramesh Pathirana - Industries in addition to the Ministry of Plantation. Douglas Devananda – Fisheries. Keheliya Rambukwella - Water Resources in addition to Health. Vidura Wickremanayaka - Buddasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs. Ahamed Naseer – Environment. Roshan Ranasinghe - Irrigation, Sports and Youth Affairs.

On Friday the President appointed nine new Cabinet Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva as Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Services, Susil Premajayantha as Minister of Education, Keheliya Rambukwella as Minister of Health, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe as Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Harin Fernando as Minister of Tourism and Lands, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana as Minister of Plantation Industries, Manusha Nanayakkara as Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Nalin Fernando as Minister of Trade, Commerce and Food Security and Tiran Alles as Minister of Public Security.

On 14 May four Ministers were appointed - Prof. G.L Peiris – Foreign; Dinesh Gunawardena - Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government; Prasanna Ranatunga - Urban Development and Housing and Kanchana Wijesekera - Power and Energy.