THE National Lotteries Board presented the government with over Rs. 1 billion at a press conference held at their office recently.  The cheque was handed over by Chairman, National Lotteries Board, Imtiaz Ismail to Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, S. Padmanadan.

For the past 40 years, the National Lotteries  Board that gave the public the opportunity to win windfalls among other prizes, has achieved their target for 2002.  According to Executive Director, National Lotteries Board, Mohan Wijesinghe, they achieved their target due to the support from the public and the hard work of the staff.

“When the government requested us to achieve such a target we agreed not realising how difficult our task would be.  However, due to us achieving our targets early we are confident that we can present the government with an additional Rs. 60 million by the end of this year”, Wijesinghe said.

Last year, the National Lotteries Board contributed Rs. 500 million to the government.  “Even though the government changed, I must mention that we did not recruit new staff.  We just worked with our old staff who had the experience and knowledge and according to a set plan”, Wijesinghe said.

According to him, their task was made easier by the support of the government with no political influence.  “The monies collected by the government will go towards the development of the country and this in itself s a great privilege to us, because we feel that we have made our contribution towards society”, he said.

Meanwhile, in keeping with their promise of giving the public more opportunities of surprises and the introduction of additional benefits, the National Lotteries Board believes that next year they can meet a higher target.  “The cooperation we have received so far is tremendous and we hope that next year our stake holders and the public will help us in achieving our goals”, Wijesinghe said.