Lockdown at Last: Too Little, Too Late?
“The most sacred laws of justice are the laws which guard the life and person of our neighbor.” Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments After nearly ten months of refusing a lockdown,…
Pandemic
Will COVID-19 Trigger a Baby Boom or Bust?
*Sandamali is 26 weeks pregnant but she doesn’t yet know the sex of her unborn child. She lives in Bodagama with her husband and her two children, where healthcare facilities are at…
COVID-19 Resurgence: Let’s Not Lose Hope but Let’s Not Tolerate Inadequate Solutions
Sri Lanka is facing a resurgence of COVID-19 due to the Delta variant that mirrors the devastating surge in India in April. In the last 24 hours government sources have reported 3,435…
Vaccine Politics
Public health crises by definition are not going to grant much personal choice to individuals. It’s been 18 months now since the inception of the coronavirus pandemic and there’s just enough data…
The Need of the Hour – Twitter Poll
Groundviews currently has a poll running on its Twitter handle to assess which one of two pressing matters requires the public’s attention the most. With the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 sweeping across…
Misusing the Pandemic to Silence Sri Lankans
Sri Lankan student activists have been arrested for protesting against militarisation and privatisation in higher education. This is yet another example of misuse of laws supposedly aimed at stopping the spread of…
COVID-19 Public Health Measures Are Essential Even with Vaccinations
On July 19, 2021, at a World Health Organization (WHO) press conference, COVID-19 Technical Lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove’s son asked a question that has been on all our minds “when will…
Vistas of Dictatorship and Discontent: How It Is All Going Horribly Wrong
Despite the extravagant promises, policies and plans contained in its campaign document Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the SLPP government have failed miserably to deliver on practically all…
‘Making Hay’ While Under a Contagion Cloud
Cricket nationalists should blame COVID-19 for the repeated abject failure of our nation’s First Eleven. Why not? COVID-19 has been officially blamed for the economic crunch as well as for the population’s…
Is COVID Only an Interlude in Cycles of Violence and Conflict?
The European Union threatening our precious garment exports to that rich market? As we sit at home stuck in front of various video screens while the curfews, so-called ‘travel restrictions’ and ‘lockdowns’,…
Institutional Discrimination Puts Plantation Community at Risk
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…
COVID-19 is an Opportunity to Break Rigid Schooling Systems
Although they overlap, there are some crucial differences between rigid schooling systems and education. Rigid schooling prepares children for exams and qualifies them for employment. Education equips children with values and prepares…
Avoiding Necrocapitalism in Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zones
Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ) workers are employed in global factories deeply embedded in global supply chains. Historically, they contribute significantly to Sri Lanka’s export income and economic development goals. Women,…
COVID-19: Three Immediate Policy Priorities to Save Lives
Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases with the number of daily cases over 3,000, a weekly increase of over 50 percent from last week Friday, May 14. Government…
Vaccine Inequality and the Cost to Garment Sector Workers
Sri Lanka’s admired initial coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic is now a distant memory. The second wave that multiplied from the Brandix factory in Minuwangoda should have sounded a warning to…
