Omar Kamil

Last updated

Omar Zuraik Kamil (born 29 August 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician and diplomat. He served as Mayor of Colombo and Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Republic of Iran. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Colombo, he was educated at Royal Primary School (1955) and Royal College, Colombo (1961). [3] He studied management accounting at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and business administration at the Aquinas University in Colombo. In Oct-2003, the Open International University conferred on him an honorary doctorate (Ph.D) in political science.

Business career

Kamil did a stint in finance under the tutelage of Chief Accountant P. S. Soosaithasan (later the TULF MP for Mannar in July 1977) at the state-owned handloom and textile manufacturer adjunct to the Ministry of Trade, Sri Lanka State Trading (Textile) Corporation, now Lanka Salu Sala Ltd, Colombo, in which his father MHM Kamil held directorship (1969/May-1970) in the Dudley Senanayake government of 1965-1970. Thereafter, Kamil was inducted into his flourishing family business; the leading hosiers, haberdashers and the parasol people: Messrs WM Hassim in Pettah, Colombo.

Political career

In May 1979 Kamil was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) as a member for the Kuppiyawatta East ward in the Borella electorate. He was appointed as Deputy Mayor in April 1997, and succeeded Karu Jayasuriya as Mayor of Colombo in April 1999. [1] In 2001, Colombo City came first among 60-competing cities at the Mayors’ Asia Pacific Environmental Summit in Hawaii. Kamil was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to serve as Chief City Administrator of the CMC on two occasions in 2006 and 2009/10, and also as Special Municipal Commissioner in 2010/11. On 22 December 2015, the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen, appointed Kamil as Chairman of the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA). [4]

Diplomatic service

In January, 2003, Kamil was appointed as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the Republic of Iran, accredited to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. In the following year, Kamil successfully negotiated lifting the Iranian ban on Sri Lanka tea imports to Iran which had prevailed since 2001. On behalf of oil imports from Teheran, he negotiated the dispensation of prime bank guarantees on letters of credit (L/Cs) established by Peoples Bank for crude oil purchases by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO), prevailing for over 25-years, thereby saving enormous amounts of money in foreign exchange for CEYPETCO. In November, 2004, he pioneered in establishing the Sri Lanka Trade Fair in Teheran where almost 50-companies, which included the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, participated.

Social work

Kamil served as secretary at the Moors’ Islamic Cultural Home, Inc. in Colombo, from June 1987 up to 27 August 2008. He was elected as the 4th MICH president on 27 August 2009 [5] and holds that position up to date. Kamil was awarded the Medal of Merit from Lions International in the year 2001.

See also

Related Research Articles

The free-market economy of Sri Lanka was worth $84 billion by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 and $296.959 billion by purchasing power parity (PPP). The country had experienced an annual growth of 6.4 percent from 2003 to 2012, well above its regional peers. This growth was driven by the growth of non-tradable sectors, which the World Bank warned to be both unsustainable and unequitable. Growth has slowed since then. In 2019 with an income per capita of 13,620 PPP Dollars or 3,852 (2019) nominal US dollars, Sri Lanka was re-classified as a lower middle income nation with the population around 22 million (2021) by the World Bank from a previous upper middle income status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N. M. Perera</span> Sri Lankan politician

Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera, was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He was the first Trotskyist to become a cabinet minister. He served two terms as Minister of Finance and Leader of the Opposition, as well as one term as the Mayor of Colombo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karu Jayasuriya</span> Sri Lankan politician

Sri Lankabhimanya Karu Jayasuriya is a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Previously he was Mayor of Colombo from 1997 to 1999, Minister of Power and Energy from 2001 to 2004, Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs from 2007 to 2008, and Minister of Buddha Sasana, Public Administration, and Democratic Governance in 2015. He has served as Chairman of the Leadership Council of the United National Party (UNP), as well as Deputy Leader of the UNP. He is a member of parliament representing the Gampaha District since 2001. He had served as Sri Lanka's Ambassador to (Germany). As Speaker of Parliament, he also acts as Chairman of the Constitutional Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colombo Municipal Council</span>

The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 municipal councilors. The council was formed in 1865, it first met in 1866 and derives most of its powers from Municipal Council Ordinance No. 29 of 1947.

Negombo is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, 38 km (24 mi) from Colombo via Colombo - Katunayake Expressway.

Emmanuel Arnold is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, former provincial councillor and the former Mayor of Jaffna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosy Senanayake</span> Sri Lankan politician

Bernadine Rose Senanayake, JP, UM is a Sri Lankan politician, a former beauty queen and also an activist. She was the Mayor of Colombo from 2018 to 2023, and former Prime Minister's Spokesperson and the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office for Ranil Wickramasinghe. She has been an activist on several issues and an active figure in the opposition gaining much limelight.

Asoka Milinda Moragoda is a Sri Lankan politician and businessman. He is the current Sri Lankan High Commissioner Designate to India and, former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament representing the Colombo District from 2001 to 2010, who served as the Minister of Justice and Law Reform (2009-2010), Minister of Tourism (2007–2009); Minister for Economic Reform, Science and Technology and Deputy Minister for Plan Implementation and Development (2002–2004). His last political post was that of Opposition Leader of the Colombo Municipal Council and Senior Adviser to former President Mahinda Rajapakse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tudor Gunasekara</span> Sri Lankan diplomat (1935–2021)

Ranasinghe Hettiarachchige Tudor Edward Ranasinghe Gunasekara, known as Tudor Gunasekara, was a Sri Lankan politician and diplomat. He was a Member of Parliament, District Minister for Gampaha in President JR Jayawardene's government. Later, he served as the first Sri Lanka ambassador to Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.

The Mayor of Colombo is the Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The Mayor is assisted by the Deputy Mayor and a Municipal Commissioner. Since 1944 the majority of the mayors have been from the United National Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razik Fareed</span>

Sir Razik Fareed, OBE, JP, UM, also known as A. R. A. Razik, was a Ceylonese landed proprietor, politician and philanthropist. He was the former Cabinet Minister of Trade, Senator, member of parliament and the state council. He had also served as Ceylon's High Commissioner to Pakistan.

Susil Moonesinghe was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician, diplomat and former chairman of State Trading Wholesale Company Ltd. A former chief minister of the Western Provincial Council and a member of parliament, he was Sri Lankan Ambassador to Iran. The brother of Anil Moonesinghe and the son of Piyadas Moonesinghe, he was educated at the Royal College, Colombo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. Ekanayake Gunasinha</span>

Alexander Ekanayake Gunasinha trade unionist and politician. A pioneering trade union leader, known as the "Father of the Labour Movement", he was the founder of the Ceylon Labour Party, Sri Lanka's first labour organisation. A former mayor of Colombo, he served as the Minister without portfolio, Minister of State and Chief Government Whip in the First Parliament of Sri Lanka and Ceylon's Ambassador to Burma and Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceylon Petroleum Corporation</span>

Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, commonly known as CEYPETCO (CPC), is a Sri Lankan oil and gas company. Established in 1962 and wholly owned by the Government of Sri Lanka. It is largest oil company in the Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1961 by nationalisation and expropriation of all private oil companies in Sri Lanka at the time of its formation. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development headquartered in Colombo. It is the largest government owned company in the country, with an operational profit of Rs. 33.9 billion for the financial year 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. L. Senanayake</span> Sri Lankan politician

Deshamanya Edward Lionel Senanayake was a Sri Lankan politician belonging to the United National Party. He was the 12th Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. Senanayake was the Governor of North Central Province and Central Province of Sri Lanka. He was elected to the Sri Lankan Parliament from Mahanuwara in Kandy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. Ganeshalingam</span>

Kanagasabai Ganeshalingam was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician. He was Mayor of Colombo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George R. de Silva</span>

George Reginald de Silva was a Ceylonese politician.

Bulathsinghalage Sirisena Cooray, JP was a Sri Lankan politician.

Thillainathan Rudra, JP, UM (1909–1960) was a Ceylonese politician. He was the mayor of Colombo from 1953 to 1954.

References

  1. 1 2 "Past Mayors of Colombo". Colombo Municipal Council . Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  2. ↑ Taylor and Francis Group (2003). The Middle East and North Africa 2004. Psychology Press. p.  433. ISBN   9781857431841.
  3. ↑ "When Royal College 61 Group renewed friendships of over 50 years". The Sunday Times . 8 March 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  4. ↑ Perera, Yohan (30 December 2015). "Kamil appointed NEDA chief". The Daily Mirror . Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "Omar Kamil elected MICH president". The Island . 3 September 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.