Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Monday, April 17, 2017

Lake House Directors To Be Replaced: Presidential Committee Finds Fault With Editorial Director

Colombo TelegraphApr 17, 2017
The Board of Directors of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), commonly known as Lake House, is to be replaced soon, informed sources of the government confirmed on Sunday.
Kavan
The current Chairman and the Managing Director of the state-run newspaper company is Kavan Ratnayaka, the elder brother of Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka.
The move to replace the current Board of Directors comes in the wake of the President’s decision to appoint a four-member committee to look into the issues at Lake House. The Committee held its sessions over the past two months, and exchanged views with a number of stakeholders concerning the state run newspaper company.
One of the key recommendations of the committee is that the poor management of the editorial section remains a key issue concerning the company. It has been identified as the main reason for the abysmal performance of the company’s two Sinhala newspapers – Dinamina and Silumina – which have failed to show any progress in terms of sales, under the current management.
Saman Wagaarachchi, current Editorial Director at Lake House, overlooks the editorial management of the company. It is in this context that the committee is to recommend the removal of Wagaarachchi from the current position.
Along with Wagaarachchi, other directors too will be replaced to bring in a new management to the company, several top sources of the government added.
It is learnt that one member of the new board of directors will be nominated by President Maithripala Sirisena. The new member, according to sources close to the President will ensure that the President gets due coverage from the Lake House newspapers.
Ratnayaka has also supported the move, informing the Prime Minister that he has no interest in continuing as the Chairman of the state-run newspaper company.