When the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, everyone over here sits up and takes notice. For the first time in years, the Government suddenly talks…
Over the last two decades the plantation sector has undergone huge changes in Sri Lanka including a sharp reduction in the labour force, poor social welfare provision, lower productivity and a rapid…
The Sri Lankan government’s failure to respect human rights, democracy and accountability have caused alarm at home and abroad and may prove still more costly in various ways. After a recent decision…
The beginning of the southwest monsoon season has triggered heavy rains causing flash floods and mud slides across several districts across the country. The risk of increased extreme weather events – heavy…
In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka is a success story when it comes to tackling child labour. The widely prevalent forms of child labour in the 1990s and before, such as…
The visit of Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe to Sri Lanka in late April 2021 – the second visit by a high ranking Chinese official since the pandemic – has raised…
The Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku or forest bathing, is now used as a de-stress practice in many western countries. The idea is to be in a forest, preferably alone, just sit…
What are the constitutional and legal implications of the proposed Colombo Port City Economic Commission? I take the view that in terms of design and effect, this proposed Bill seeks to carve…
Trapped between unscrupulous microfinance companies and duplicitous governments, Sri Lanka’s rural women farmers are drowning in debt. Over 200 have committed suicide, some with their young children; families have been wrecked and…
World Water Day 2021, at the start of a critical decade for climate action and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), opens with an outcry by stakeholders about the impacts of ongoing rampant deforestation…
These are some of the ideas that were heard recently from various parties in the dialogues and debates on environment and development. The essence of these expressions is the notion that the…
In the past several years, we can see that a remarkable change has been occurring in Sri Lanka. A society which is disproportionally dominated by male voices and perspectives, has seen and…
Whenever President Gotabaya Rajapaksa embarks on a “discussion with the villagers” visit, Sri Lanka’s environmental defenders shudder in anticipation of yet another verbal executive order resulting in the destruction of more trees,…
If colonization is the exercise of hegemony, administrative control and the fundamental subjugation of one group of peoples to another, then the question for post-independent Sri Lanka should be whether or not…
Using the policy tool of a dedicated special economic zone for services, the Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka aspires to become an international financial centre after the pandemic in a bid…
