Interviews & Articles24/04/2018
Destructive and unsustainable practice of bottom trawling resurfacing in Sri Lanka?
In July 2017, Sri Lanka became the first country in Asia to completely ban bottom trawling and the use of destructive trawl nets. Six months later, the Department of Fisheries proposed to weaken this ban by allowing ‘less destructive’ trawling in designated trawling zones. A majority of fishermen in the...
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Had Mahinda Rajapaksa run for president on 10 Feb, he would have lost
Few would have predicted the results of Sri Lanka’s local government elections in 2018. With the benefit of hindsight, we must now try to understand what happened and why. There are three lessons to be learnt from the results – one lesson for voters, one for the coalition Government, and...
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Women’s quota in local authority elections: Outcomes will fail the promise
In August 2017, an amendment to the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance announced a 25% quota for women in local authorities. However, the drafting of the law undermines its stated intention. The quota for women is designed to fallshort of the promised 25%. This insight explains how far the outcome could...
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Sri Lanka’s economic competitiveness: A microcosm of its politics?
In 2017, Sri Lanka’s country score in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) declined to 4.09 out of 7. This is the lowest score Sri Lanka has received since 2010. Sri Lanka’s ranking in 2017 also declined to 85th out of 137. This is the lowest that Sri Lanka has been...
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Jeep limits in Yala – Shifting interests, rising numbers
By Ashani Basnayake Although the Government claims to be pursuing a sustainable development agenda, this latest policy fiasco, driven by political interests as opposed to data, betrays a lack of sincerity and commitment to conservation. Yala is a national treasure that should be preserved for future generations; favouring a few...
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