Appreciation
I cannot write much as I interacted with him only for a short period and did not keep in touch lately, yet I was saddened to read the news of him passing away. This is because during this short period I knew him, he left a lasting impression as someone who really cared for his country.
I had to meet him without fail since we failed to get the invitation for the opening ceremony of our brand-new state-of-the-art factory in Kuliyapitiya, when Jayawickrema Perera was the Chief Minister of Wayamba. I learned about this lapse around 9.00 pm, two days prior, and called him. He answered the phone himself and when I asked for an appointment the next day, he could not meet my expectations. Then I queried ‘can I meet you at 6.00 am’? I knew that President Premadasa was famous for meeting people at 4.30 am and I hoped that the Chief Minister probably has taken a lesson. Possibly disbelieving that somebody from Colombo would make it to Kurunegala at 6.00 am, he agreed. I was there at 5.50 am and we sat, and I explained, assuring him that our failure to send him an invitation was an unintended and unpardonable act. We had a pleasant chat as he invited me for breakfast, and he accepted our invitation.
Thereafter, I kept in close touch with him, and he asked me ‘how do you plan to recruit people for the factory’. I told him ‘Majority of the people we need are with particular skills that can be found only in this coconut triangle and the others would be based on the qualifications we specify from the area and based on an open examination and not on political party basis’. He did not say ‘I am …read more
Source:: The Island