By Mr. Upul Premarathne, Former Council Member & Treasurer
Institute of Geology, Sri Lanka (IGSL)
History of the geological profession in Sri Lanka goes back to more than a century. It was in 1903 that Mineral Survey of Ceylon (MSC), the precursor to today’s Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) was established. The founding head of Mineral Survey of Ceylon was none other than a well known personality late Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy. However, geological education in Sri Lanka was established much later with the establishment of the Geology Department at the University of Peradeniya by late Prof. P.W Vithanage in 1964. Since then, the door to geological education has been opened to Sri Lankan youth.
It was in 1983, that Geological Society of Sri Lanka (GSSL) was established by a group of senior Sri Lankan geologists. The Inaugural General Meeting of GSSL was held at the University of Peradeniya. Since then GSSL has been the only forum available to Sri Lankan geologists to gather entire geology fraternity in the country to present, discuss and share geological knowledge. Geological profession contributes to the economy of Sri Lanka, including but not limited to exploration and mining of minerals, ground water and petroleum as well as disaster mitigation such as landslides. Therefore, the requirement for a Government recognized institution to regulate the geological profession in Sri Lanka was a long felt need. GSSL being the only forum of Sri Lankan geologists took initiative in establishing a geological institute, which was decided to call Institute of Geology, Sri Lanka (IGSL). Many committees of GSSL gradually laid the foundation for establishment of IGSL.
Establishment of IGSL took a new twist during the tenure of the 2008/2009 executive committee of GSSL. This committee was able to get the service of a seasoned legal draftsman Mr. Walter Perris, to draft rules of IGSL. Further, he gave legal advice necessary for establishment and incorporation of IGSL. For incorporation of an institute, the need for the existence of a de facto institute was felt. Therefore, the GSSL executive committee became the caretaker council of a shadow institute named IGSL. Subsequently, the process of selecting eligible founding members for IGSL was begun. More than 20 senior members of GSSL contributed to the formulation of eligibility criteria for corporate membership of IGSL.
In February 2009, a new executive committee for GSSL was elected. The new committee carried forward the momentum of establishing the IGSL. This committee, being the new caretaker council of shadow IGSL appointed a membership selection committee composed of five senior geologists to evaluate short listed membership applications from Sri Lankan geologists. Application procedure was handled in an impartial and transparent manner. Call for applications was published in newspapers in three official languages in Sri Lanka. The membership selection committee selected more than 90 Sri Lankan geologists eligible to attend and vote at the Inaugural General Meeting (IGM). They all were invited to the IGM, which was held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SFI) in Colombo on 06thOctober 2009. More than fifty members attended the IGM. Attending the IGM was deemed to be the member’s acceptance of IGSL membership. At the IGM, members approved the draft rules of IGSL by a two thirds majority. The caretaker council organized an IGSL logo completion where GSSL members had been invited to design a logo for IGSL. Each logo submitted by GSSL members was on display at the IGM. Later that day, the logo that got the highest number of preferential votes of members was accepted as the official logo of IGSL. Until the logo was selected the designer of each logo was kept confidential from attendees for the IGM to maintain impartiality. Designer of the selected logo was awarded a cash price. Then a new council was appointed as per the approved rules. At this moment the role of the executive committee of GSSL as the caretaker council for IGSL ended. The shallow IGSL became a de facto institute with its own membership, set of rules for its function and a council. Newly applied council has two committees, the Admission and Ethical Practices Committee and the Educational Committee.
The new council began to fulfill the necessary formalities to incorporate the IGSL. Honorable Professor Rajeev Weerasinghe (MP) submitted an Act to incorporate the IGSL into the Sri Lankan Parliament as a private bill. The Act was finally enacted by the Sri Lankan Parliament in 2004. IGSL is the results of a unite effort of Sri Lankan geologists on a common goal. As a result, Sri Lankan geologist empowered by the IGSL will contribute to the economic development of the country more than ever before in the same spirit of professionalism, transparency and resilience they showed during the creation of IGSL.