Omer Kamil
Omar Zuraik Kamil (29 August 1949 - ) is a Sri Lankan politician and diplomat. He served as Mayor of Colombo and Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Republic of Iran.
Early life and education
Born in Colombo, he was educated at Royal Primary School (1955) and Royal College, Colombo (1961-Group). He studied management accounting at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and business administration at the Aquinas University in Colombo. In Oct-2003, the Open International University conferred on him an honorary doctorate (PH.D) in political science.
Business career
Kamil did a stint in finance under the tutelage of Chief Accountant P. S. Soosaithasan (later the TULF MP for Mannar in July 1977) at the state-owned handloom and textile manufacturer adjunct to the Ministry of Trade, Lanka Salu Sala, in which his father MHM Kamil held directorship (1969/May-1970) in the Dudley Senanayake government of 1965-1970. Thereafter, Kamil was inducted into his flourishing family business; the leading hosiers, haberdashers and the parasol people: Messrs WM Hassim in Pettah, Colombo.
Political career
In May, 1979, Omar was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) as a member overlooking the Kuppiyawatta East ward in the Borella electorate. He was appointed Colombo’s Deputy Mayor in April, 1997, and succeeded Hon. Karu Jayasuriya as Mayor of Colombo in April, 1999. In 2001, Colombo City came first among 60-competing cities at the Mayors’ Asia Pacific Environmental Summit in Hawaii. Omar was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to serve as Chief City Administrator of the CMC on two occasions in 2006 and 2009/10, and also as Special Municipal Commissioner in 2010/11. On 22 December, 2015, the minister of Industries and Commerce, Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, MP, appointed Omar Kamil as Chairman of the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) in Colombo-5.
Diplomatic service
In January, 2003, Omar was appointed as Sri Lanka’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Iran, accredited to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. In the following year, Omar successfully negotiated lifting the Iranian ban on Sri Lanka tea imports to Iran which had prevailed since 2001. On behalf of oil imports from Teheran, he negotiated the dispensation of prime bank guarantees on letters of credit (L/Cs) established by Peoples Bank for crude oil purchases by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO), prevailing for over 25-years, thereby saving enormous amounts of money in foreign exchange for CEYPETCO. In November, 2004, he pioneered in establishing the Sri Lanka Trade Fair in Teheran where almost 50-companies, which included the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, participated.
Social work
Omar served as secretary at the Moors’ Islamic Cultural Home, Inc. in Colombo, from June 1987 up to 27.08.08. He was elected as the 4th MICH president on 27.08.09, in the footsteps of founder president Sir Razik Fareed, (1944-1984), MA Careem, MA, LL.M (Cantab) (1984-1992) and AAM Marleen, PC, (later Sri Lanka’s ambassador the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) (1992-2009) and holds that position up to date. Omar was awarded the Medal of Merit from Lions International in the year 2001.