Celebrating his 27th wedding anniversary yesterday, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mahinda Wijesekera said the Postal Department was like a member of his family and he would do his utmost to give it a solid foundation to make it an economically viable establishment.

Wijesekera was speaking at a ceremony after his Ministry moved into the Postal Department yesterday. He said steps would be taken to make the Postal Department a profit earning Department by next year without privatizing it.

After he was appointed the Posts and Telecommunications Minister, he held discussions with unions and high officials of the department and instructed them to come out with their proposals to make the department profitable, he said.

Unions and high officials had made their suggestions and within one month he would take the necessary steps for the betterment of the department without affecting the employees.

Last month, he told The Island that he would set an example by moving from the posh World Trade Centre to the Postal Department located in D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha, as promised unlike many of his counterparts, he kept to his word.

The Island learns that over the last 13 years the Government had paid an annual rental of 4.5 million rupees for the three floors occupied by the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.