Minister of Plantation Industries D. M. Jayaratne of Sri Lanka
Jayaratne is strongly tipped to become the new prime minister in the Mahinda Rajapakse administration, a ministerial source said yesterday.
year, on the basis that paddy cannot be preserved for over six months.
Jayaratne is to be bestowed with the title of Deshabandu Shasana-Keerthi Sri Janaranjana by the Sri Lanka Committee of the Sri Lanka Ramannya Maha-Nikaya.
Minister Jayaratne is the senior Vice President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the General Secretary of the Peoples Alliance.
Minister Jayaratne said but the President is co-operating with them.
Jayaratne said both the government and people of Sri Lanka are grateful to China for its long-term humanitarian and material assistance.
Jayaratne said he was extremely happy to be vested with the Portfolio given his crusade spanning several decades to get back estate seized by the colonial powers, assuming duties in his new Ministry.
Reacting to the latest statement of Narayan, minister of plantation Industries and senior vice president of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party, D M Jayaratne said that Colombo was compelled to transact with China and Pakistan to fulfill its military requirements.
While explaining the Lankan move towards China and Pakistan, arch rivals of India, D M Jayaratne has said the island nation, whose forces have been battling the Tamil Tiger rebels in the troubled northeast, had to purchase the right kind of weapons to fulfill its needs and therefore had to look for those who prepared to provide them to Sri Lanka.
Jayaratne said he is planning to establish an organization of tea producing countries to provide a guaranteed price for tea.
Jayaratne was suspended today from sitting in Parliament for arguing with an opposition member of Parliament.
Jayaratne was trying to present a bill to change the laws concerning the felling of timber.
Jayaratne is due to meet the two ex-ministers tomorrow in a bid to resolve it amicably.
a program to assist rural small industries.
Speaking further Minister Jayaratne said that Sri Lanka got an annual income of about Rs.
Jayaratne said that all post offices and damaged telecommunication network would be rebuilt with the aid, the Daily News reported Monday.
Jayaratne said that with the assistance from foreign donors 400 pay phones will be installed in the rural areas within this year.
But when it comes to weapons we are compelled to transact with countries which actually fulfill our country's military requirement," Jayaratne was quoted as saying in the private Daily Mirror on Saturday.
Jayaratne was not present at yesterday's swearing-in which was attended among others by Anura Bandaranaike who did not get the job though the SLFP central committe had nominated him for it.
Jayaratne was suggested for the premiership, because of his experience and of course the fact that he was from Kandy.
Jayaratne said that last year Sri Lanka earned 24 million dollars from coconut exports.
Jayaratne said the global economic crisis and slowdown had reduced demand for coconut products, hurting Asia-Pacific coconut producing countries which earn revenue by exporting coconut-based products.
Jayaratne said that some valuable products like virgin coconut oil is sold at very high prices in European and the US markets but they buy from producing countries at very low prices.