RIYADH, 12 March 2004 — The Sri Lankan Embassy here will set up a library on its premises with a view to promoting bilateral understanding between the Kingdom and the island nation.
The library will be open to the public during the mission’s office hours from Saturday through Wednesday .
“ The proposed library is aimed at projecting the true image of Sri Lanka among the people in the Kingdom,” the country’s Ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar said. It will also have a reference section.
Ansar said a library of this nature will be the second to be set up among the 46 foreign missions of Sri Lanka after the Sri Lanka High Commission in London.
Ansar solicited donations in cash or kind for the establishment of the proposed library at the recent 11th annual generalmeeting of the Sri Lankan Expatriates Society (SLES)in Riyadh.
He said every Sri Lankan in the Kingdom can be an ambassador of goodwill. Ansar cited an example of a Sri Lankan housemaid who was instrumental in promotingSri Lanka by being a loyal domestic aide for 18 years in the mansion of a highly influential Saudi..
New office-bearers were reelected uncontested at the meeting presided over by the outgoing president S.K.Subramaniam. A 15-member committee was elected on the occasion.
They included Conrad De Lima-president, Mohamed Illyas and Xavier Arulandoo- vice presidents , Sanjay Nayagam-secretary, Gamini Jayasekera- treasurer and Manel Gamage-editor of the SLES newsletter.