Four provincial ministers for East

Four Provincial Ministers including Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan took oaths before President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat.

Apart from the Chief Ministers portfolio, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, also took oaths as the Minister of Finance and Planning, Law and Order, Local Government, Local Administration, Human Resources, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rural Development and Tourism and Environment.

Thuraiappa Navaratna Raja was sworn in as Agriculture, Livestock Development, Rural Industries Development and Fisheries Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council. Wimalaweera Dissanayaka was sworn in as Education, Cultural Affairs, Land and Land Development and Transport Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council.

Meera Saibu Uthuma Lebbe was sworn in as the Provincial Minister for Road Development, Irrigation, Housing and Construction, Rural Electricity and Water Supply.

A separate Ministerial portfolio has been allocated for the Muslim representatives from the Batticaloa district. The appointment of Chairman, Vice Chairman, Chief Government Whip and the Leader of the House will take place later.

The representatives elected to the Eastern Provincial Council Somasuntheram Pushparaja, Sinnathambi Selvaraja, Karunasinghe Thevarapperuma, A. Amir Mohammed Lebbe, Meera Lebbe Thulkar Naeem from the Ampara district, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, Nagalingam Thiraviyam, Edwin Silva Krishnanandaraja from the Batticaloa district and M.K.D.S. Gunawardena, Satak Lebbe Mohammed Hassan Moulavi, Ariyawathie Galappatti Ajju Mohammed Faiz from Trincomalee were also sworn in as Members of the Eastern Provincial Council.

Apart from them Rasiah Thurai Ratnam who contested the election from the Tamil Democratic National Alliance was also sworn in as a Member, expressing his solidarity with the UPFA.