Sri Lanka’s recently appointed Sports Minister Dullas Alahapperuma kicked off proceedings at his Ministry and cautioned that he will not be around to hug the limelight and take part in worthless activities that do not augur well for sports unlike some of his predecessors who were good at hoodwinking.
Alahapperuma said that his first task will be to take stock of developments in the sports arena while seeking the advice of experts and admitted he was not an overwhelming sports follower before being cast into his new role.
Alahapperuma replaces Harin Fernando, who stepped down from his post following the Presidential election defeat of Sajith Premadasa last Sunday.
“I will go through the next few weeks getting to know what is taking place in sports and then meet journalists on future plans and the job that I have to perform” he told local news paper Sunday Observer.
Alahapperuma, 60, started his career as a journalist. He worked as editor at Diwayina and Lakmina news papers. A close aide of Rajapaksa brothers, Alahapperuma maintains a clean image as a politician.
“Without a proper knowledge about the current problems, opening my mouth in front of journalists will not be of any use. My style has always being about studying situations before I set about my business. It was how I went about contesting an election (for the first time) in 1994,” Alahapperuma added.
“The only sports I did was at school and that was it,” said Alahapperuma who also played a lead role in the presidential victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Alahapperuma was one of 15 Cabinet Ministers sworn in before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday.
