(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) –Senior Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) officer Gamini Senarath Wednesday (January 19) assumed duties as the new Secretary to the President replacing former secretary P B Jayasundara, who has retired earlier this month.
The letter of appointment was handed over by the President to Gamini Senarath at the Presidential Secretariat this morning.
Gamini Senarath, a Special Grade Officer in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, served as Additional Secretary and Chief of Staff to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and in August 2020 was appointed Secretary to the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Senarath received his primary and secondary education from Hakmana Methodist College, Rahula College, Matara and Richmond College, Galle. He obtained his first degree from the University of Kelaniya and joined the Sri Lanka Administrative Service in 1984. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Technology from the University of Colombo and has completed training courses in a number of countries including the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Pakistan, Germany and France.
He has held senior positions in a number of government agencies such as the Department of Motor Traffic and the Department of Immigration and Emigration, and has chaired a number of state-owned enterprises, including the People’s Bank, the Insurance Corporation of Sri Lanka and Litro Gas.
DM Anura Dissanayake, a Special Grade Officer in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service has been appointed as the new Secretary to the Prime Minister and the relevant appointment letter was presented by the President.
Dissanayake previously served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation. He has held the post of Secretary to several Ministries and is an experienced public servant who has held many senior positions in the public service.
K.W. Ivan de Silva has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation to fill the vacancy created by Dissanayake’s departure and the relevant appointment letter was presented by the President..
Addressing all Secretaries, the President said that everything in the country depends on the public service and therefore, all the Secretaries to the Ministries have a huge responsibility. The future plans and targets of the government have been submitted to the Ministries, the President said encouraging the Officials.
