THE Chairman of the Solomon Islands Ports Authority Board is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Eranda Kotelawala.

Mr, Kotelawala a Sri Lankan is educated and trained in various institutions in the UK, Canada, USA and in his home country Sri Lanka, with his highest qualification a Masters in Management from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.

Mr Kotelawala, since 2015 is currently the Chief Operating Officer for the Fiji Ports Corporation Ltd, the landlord and management body for Fiji’s two international wharves at Suva and Lautoka and several domestic ports and the Fiji Ships and Heavy Industries Limited, a subsidiary fully owned by the Fiji Ports Corporation.

Mr Kotelawala with over 20 years’ experience in port management, shipping, IT and marketing comes with a lot of strong appropriate experiences and skills in particular, business reengineering, necessary to lift further improving the operations of the Authority.

Previously Mr Kotelawala has provided technical services to the Port of Durban, South Africa (2008), the Port Sultan Qaboos in Oman (2010, 2013), and the Ports of Suva and Lautoka, Fiji (2012).

With the conclusion of the formalities of appointing Mr Kotelawala and his availability, the 9 month interim appointment of Mr Mike Wate has now come to an end.

Mr Wate on loan from the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund has successfully completed his assignment in normalising and improving the operations of the authority, improving SIPA’s compliance to its statutory obligations, settlement with the labour union and re-engaging positively with the community and major shipping lines.

The SIPA Board would want to sincerely thank Mr Wate for his excellent work for the authority and to our country.   The SIPA Board would also like to thank the SINPF Board for releasing Mr Wate to SIPA during a time a person of such caliber is needed for an important national institution.

Mr Kotelawala will take up his position on 13 February 2017.   The Board will introduce him to all stakeholders once he is settled in his new job.