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Home » ColumnsPoaching Indian skipper jumps into sea to avoid jail here
Strict regulations were introduced by the successive governments to discourage Indian bottom trawlers from illegally entering Sri Lankan waters for poaching. Despite these regulations, hundreds of bottom trawlers enter Lankan territorial waters three days a week, as the Navy adopted a soft ‘humanitarian’ approach of chasing them away with mere warnings. Last Monday, the Navy [...]
Govt. presents 2026 fiscal strategy; Namal says it only makes investors flee
By Sandun Jayawardana The National People’s Power (NPP) government’s “Fiscal Strategy Statement” for 2026, together with the accompanying adjournment debate, was the order of business when Parliament convened for a special sitting on Monday. According to Section 11 of the Public Financial Management Act, No. 44 of 2024, the government is required to announce a [...]
You know we know what you know
Dayaabara Handun, I am writing to you after you went ‘viral’ with your interview at the World Economic Forum recently, describing our country and its virtues to an international audience as no one had ever done before. You have received so much feedback since then, so I thought I will clarify the issues that are [...]
The moral and social perils of a Casino Hub
Sri Lanka stands at the crossroads as it prepares to open a luxury integrated entertainment resort. The glittering resort—complete with casinos, luxury hotels, and entertainment venues—symbolizes the country’s ambition to remake itself as a regional leisure hub. But behind this shiny façade lies a troubling story of misplaced priorities, moral contradictions, and economic shortsightedness. A [...]
President’s committee red flags port’s container release as illegal
SJB MP Mujibur Rahman blows the lid off the scandal at Colombo Port The scandalous arbitrary release of 323 red-flagged containers from Colombo port, without a mandatory physical inspection carried out to expeditiously clear a supposed port backlog, was illegal, a committee appointed by the President has found. The bombshell findings of the committee’s damning [...]
Such disgusting conduct—they shame man and beast
I wish I were there. I wish the whole nation had taken a holiday to watch how highly placed public servants cringed before our highest courts of justice, having on previous occasions meted out what they considered their form of justice. These were people who did the bidding of their masters, a ragtag team of [...]
Transforming our polity and economy: Between hope and scepticism
Punishing the corrupt has proved to be more extensive than envisaged, and the legal processes are complex and dilatory. Nevertheless, the corrupt are being brought to justice and punished. Containing corruption has been the main achievement of the NPP government in its first six months in office. Its main achievement has been the punishment of [...]
Chemmani, Batalanda and beyond
In a global arena where the United Nations is desperately struggling to cope with a pronounced irrelevance as the world’s ‘superpowers’ continue to pound the Gaza Strip with all its might and main, of what use are symbolic visits and symbolic messages by the champions of an (increasingly tenuous) international human rights ‘rules based order’ [...]
Red-labelled cargo release casts shadow over NPP’s clean image
Explosive findings in committee report raise serious questions about national security Customs has released containers without inspection on 13 occasions since mid 2024, report finds Two committee members’ reservations dilute the impact of report Main opposition SJB sees political hand in container release scandal Ranil’s efforts bear fruit, as Lanka connects with Starlink Yet another commission [...]
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