Abstract:
Mr. John Diandas was born in India as a British
Citizen in April 1924.
He was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants, and a Senior Partner of A.I. Macan
Markar & Co, Chartered Accountants. Though being
an Accountant by vocation, there were many
professionals in Mr Diandas. He was an active Energy
Economist, and was among the first few non-Engineers
to be awarded the membership of the Sri Lanka Energy
Managers’ Association. His knowledge in Environment
and Urban Planning was profound, but the discipline
closest to his heart was transportation.
Mr Diandas, during his long and exemplary professional career, was actively
involved in a number of fields, including bus operations planning and policy,
rail transportation, company law, energy management and economics, climate
change and national environment. He held the position of the Chairman of the
National Transport Commission from December 1994 to March 1997. He also
served as a Director of the Ceylon Transport Board in the early 1960s, and as
a member of the Boards of the Ceylon Tyre Corporation (1970-1974), the
Building Materials Corporation (1976-1977), the Urban Development
Authority (1994-1997), the Western Province Transport Authority (1995-
1998), and the Railway Management Council (2000-2001). Mr Diandas served
as the Chairman of the Central Advisory Committee to the Minister on CTB
affairs in the early 1980s. He also headed the Transport Policy and Pricing
Sub-Committee of the National Development Council’s Working Group on
Transportation, and contributed in compiling the Bus Policy Report in
1999/2000. Mr Diandas served, without accepting any payments in
consideration, in many other policy advisory committees appointed by the
Government.
In recognition of his services, the then Chartered Institute of Transport – Sri
Lamka elected Mr Diandas as its Chairman for the years 1988 and 1989, and
he was the third to hold this position.
He passed away on the 15th of July, 2002.
