Conservation in 2021: A Year Like No Other
In 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the world and under its malevolent cloak, Sri Lanka’s environment, wildlife and wilderness had to face some of the greatest threats they have ever had. Not…
Politics and Governance
Cutting Heavy Wastage to Reduce Food Shortage
A new year usually brings hope and optimism but when we welcomed 2022, another worrisome issue had surfaced – the imminent threat of a food shortage. When the sudden fertilizer policy changes…
Stumbling from One Annus Horribilis to Another
The newspaper headlines say it all – gas shortages, no money to import medicine, there will be no bread soon, staple vegetables are unaffordable, power cuts are starting and there is only…
Repay Foreign Debt or Finance Essential Imports
South China Morning Post The available foreign reserves of the country can be used to either repay foreign creditors or to finance imports of essential goods and services required by its citizens.…
How Sri Lanka Became a Nation of Beggars
Every economy in the world, developed or developing, is a topic for discussion today. Some economies are being discussed for their sound management, good governance, high growth and overcoming crises while other…
State Owned Enterprises: A Major Crisis in the Making
Sri Lanka has a whopping 527 state-owned enterprises[1] (SOEs). The 55 SOEs classified as “strategically important” alone employ 10% of the public sector workforce[2] or about 1.9% of all workers. Such a…
A Disastrous 2021 and Conservation Challenges in 2022
Environmental conservation in Sri Lanka is as challenging as the economy of the country. Environmental degradation is fully supported and carried out with the blessings of corrupt politicians. This has been the…
The Systemic Failure to Protect Sri Lanka’s Children
Thirty years after ratifying the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNRC) in 1991, child protection is a national crisis in Sri Lanka. Over the past 16 months, 10…
Desmond Tutu – An Inspiration and Challenge for Sri Lanka
Desmond Tutu was a black, South African, Christian male but in a world where colour, caste, class, ethnicity, religion, citizenship, sexuality and gender matter, he transcended all of that to be a…
2021: The Year in Review
2020 flowed into 2021 with a continued air of uncertainty due to the unrelenting spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The third wave saw cases and deaths rise exponentially, taking the country’s healthcare…
Making Cash from Trash
The organic fertilizer ship from China was one of the hotly debated topics in Sri Lanka. The quality of the fertilizer shipment, which resulted heated exchanges between the stakeholders, almost sparked a…
An Unjust Justice System Needs to Be Changed
Two prisoners in Sri Lanka were recently released after being detained for many years, a harsh reminder of the ease with which people can be locked up on flimsy grounds. This has…
The Need for People’s Participation in Constitution Making
A fake constitution alters the rules of logic that are the basic foundations of a good constitution. The change of logic leads to irrationality. The spread of irrationality into public institutions creates…
Weaponising Buddhism: Will the Third Wave Be the Last?
Independent Sri Lanka experienced three waves of weaponsation of Buddhism. The first was when S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike embraced the Buddhist Commission Report. D.S. Senanayake had refused, on Constitutional grounds, a request by the…
Families of Prisoners are Human Beings
In December 2008, Human Rights Office Kandy (HROK) had started to present human rights awards during the celebration of International Human Rights Day. I was among those who received an award and…