New Board of Directors for PCC

A new Board of Directors was elected at the first AGM of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka held at the Sri Lanka Press Institute on December 12, after the expansion of its membership, a press release from the PCCSL said.

The new Board will comprise Ranjit Wijewardene, Manik de Silva, Waruna Karunatillake (nominees of the Sri Lanka Press Institute), Nimal Welgama (nominee of the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka), Sinha Ratnatunga (nominee of the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka), Uvindu Kurukulasuriya (nominee of the Free Media Movement), Ms.Namini Wijedasa (Upali Newspapers), M.N Ameen (Lake House) and Sundara Nihathamani de Mel (Sumathi Newspapers).

The former Board of Directors tendered their resignation to facilitate the appointment of a new Board in terms of new amendment to the Articles of Association that were passed at the AGM to broaden the representation of the Board.

The amendments provide for a Board of nine Directors to be elected - 3 from the SLPI, 3 from the founder media organizations and 3 from the expanded membership.The Press Complaints Commission was founded in October 2003 as a voluntary, self-regulatory body to hear complaints from the public on matters published in registered newspapers.

An independent Dispute Resolution Council headed by former Secretary General of Parliament and former Ombudsman Sam Wijesinha adjudicates on public complaints, provided the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and its staff are unable to settle disputes by means of Conciliation or Mediation.

M/s. Corporate Services Ltd., a subsidiary of F.J &G.De Saram, Attoneys-at Law were re-elected as the Commission’s Secretaries and M/s. Nihal Hettiarachchi & Co., Chartered Accountants were re-elected as the auditors. The Commission’s audited accounts for the previous year were also approved at the AGM.