Ex-Minister passes away

(Sp) Former Minister R. M. Dharmadasa Banda passed away yesterday. He was 72 years.
Mr. Banda entered Parliament in 1977 as the United National Party (UNP) member for the Bibile electorate. He served as Deputy Minister of Textile Industries and later as Minister of Agricultural Development and Research.

In 2007, Mr. Banda crossed over to the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), along with 17 UNP MPs, and was appointed Minister of Supplementary Crops Development. The funeral arrangements will be announced later.