Reefcomber turns Citrus Leisure; two new Directors appointed

Hotel Reefcomber Plc has changed its name to Citrus Leisure Plc.

The move was approved by shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on Friday. The company is now majority owned by Emagwise Ltd., controlled by Triad Advertising fame Dilith Jayaweera and Varuni Amunugama Fernando.

The company also announced two new appointments to its Board of Directors – Suresh Dayanath de Mel and J. Manoj Bandara Pilimatalawwe. The appointments follow the resignation of Lalin Samarawickrama, M.D.S. Goonatilleke and Denesh Silva, who were nominees of Amaya Resorts which previously controlled the company.

Following the new appointments, the Citrus Leisure Board comprises of Prema Cooray (Chairman), R. Seneviratne, S. Senaratne, D. Jayaweera, V.A. Fenrnaod, S.A. Ameresekere, Raynor Silva, Suresh de Mel and Manoj Pilimatalawwe.

Suresh de Mel is the Managing Director of Lanka Fishing Flies (Pvt) Ltd., a US-Sri Lanka Joint Venture since 1981 producing Umpqua brand fishing flies. Lanka Fishing Flies which currently employs 250 workers In factories in Colombo and Tangalle, has a reputation for being one of the largest producers of high quality hand tied fishing flies in the world.

Before taking over the family business in 1990, Suresh worked as a Student Engineer and then as an Agricultural and Environmental Engineer for CH2M Hill Inc., USA, for 10 years. He continues to be a liaison for CH2M Hill in Sri Lanka.

Suresh is also the Chairman of Asian Angling Adventures Ltd., a company promoting ‘catch and release’ sports fishing in Sri Lanka, Maldives and Malaysia, and the Chairman/Managing Director of Lanka Eco Adventure Frontiers Ltd., a company promoting conservation of rainforests and wet lands through responsible tourism.

He is currently the Immediate Past Chairman of the Board and a founder member of the Business for Peace Alliance – Sri Lanka’s Regional Chambers of Commerce network for Conflict Transformation, Reconciliation, Regional Empowerment, and Corporate Social Responsibility and is a Founder Member and the Vice President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism Sri Lanka.

He also serves as a Director on the Boards of the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce, the American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka, the Business Initiative for Peace and SriLankaFirst and Navajeevaria Rehabilitation Tangalle, a project bringing new life to the disabled.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Engineering from Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo, California, USA, and is a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is also a Member- of The International Eco-tourism Society.

Suresh is a social entrepreneur who actively promotes investments that sustain people, planet and profit.

Manoj Pilimatalawwe currently works in the capacity of Head of Group Information and Communication Technology of Brandix Lanka Ltd. Prior to this Manoj has been employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers Lanka Ltd, and has experience in areas of general management, management consultancy, IT operations and technology strategy formulation.

Manoj holds a Master’s Degree in Information Technology from The Keele University in U.K. and a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Information Systems from Manchester Metropolitan University in U.K. and is a member of the British Computer Society (MBCS). He is also a Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP) and counts over 14 years corporate experience.