Peter Jasinghe VWBO president
The Volkswagen Beetle Owners Club ( VWBO) held its 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 25 at the Marco Po l o Convention Hall at Darley Road in Colombo.
The meeting was called to order by the President which was followed by a few moments of silence with the passing away of two eminent members -- S. I. Kulatunge, a founder member and Nihal Perera, an ardent supporter towards the activities of the club.
This was followed with the adoption of the previous AGM’s minutes and the Annual Report which was approved by all present. Then went on to the Audited Accounts for the year in review that was adopted and approved by all present.
The Patron of the Club, Kapila Jayawardena was nominated for the post of Pro- Tem Chairman pending the election of Office Bearers for the cur rent ye a r. Jayawardena thanked those present for conferring him with the title of Pro- Tem Chairman and the house was unanimous by way of the proposal that was put forward being the same committee to carry out the activities of the club for another year.
The President thanked the members for the support extended towards the activities of the Club with a special word of thanks on the successful completion of the VW Raffle which was a “First” that has been held in Sri Lanka with the prize being a Classic Beetle.
Under any other business, members had the opportunity to raise their concerns and ideas and it was noted of the acute need for technical assistance as most Beetles suffered at the hands of inexperienced mechanics who did more damage rather than repair of the classic car. This has become a serious concern as most of the experienced mechanics have either retired from service and some having “met their maker” which brought about the decision that the club would envisage in obtaining the facilities of training potential apprentices under the guidance of professionals who are members of the club having gained years of technical experience with VW who readily came forward to support the cause.
The Club thanked Indrajith Munasinghe and Kumar Samarasinghe, who readily came forward to support the cause and the VWBO intends to go ahead with the project which would be a much needed CSR Project that would be of immense benefit to the membership.
The following office bearers were elected to serve in the Committee for the year 2017/18 Patron: Kapila
Jayawardena President: Peter Jasinghe Vice Presidents: Ruwan Punchihewa, Ruwan Weerawardana Hony Secretary: Nalin
K.D.S. Perera Treasurer: Lasath
Pathirennehe Hony Auditor: H.K.
Amerasinghe Webmaster: Manoj
Abeysekera Committee: Mahesh Mallawaratchchi, Kumar Samarasinghe, David Jansze, Mahika Chandrasena, Jaliya Jayasuriya, Amanda Gooneratne