Editorial
Home » EditorialSriLankan: Going down; not up
One of the key promises of the electoral campaigns of the then Opposition in 2015 was that a new administration under Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe would, not only eliminate corruption, but hold those suspected of it in the past to account. On both counts, this Government has failed. The promised transparency in procurement has [...]
Drug menace: What is going wrong?
June 26 is International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking—as good an occasion as any to point out that Sri Lanka needs a multipronged approach to eradicate its growing narcotics problem. Flinging people in jail, where they continue to traffic and consume drugs, is no longer adequate or sustainable. Department of Prisons’ statistics show [...]
Realities of the Indian Ocean
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe received a clean bill of health from a New York-based hospital, enabling him to address an important UN conference this week on conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources. The fact that Mr Wickremesinghe was deemed hale and hearty is to be welcomed. It permitted him to attend [...]
Disaster Mismanagement and self-respect
“The drought came first, heaping untold misery upon man and beast. The deluge followed and, with it, a sweeping landslide. A succession of environmental disasters in recent years has proved that Sri Lanka remains ill-equipped to mitigate threats and save precious lives, if anything, the country is racing towards bigger catastrophes.” This is not just [...]
Whither merit in public service reshuffle
After months of struggling and straining to implement a Cabinet reshuffle, the President eventually delivered on his promise. Whether the answer lies in changing pillows for a continuing headache, i.e. the economy, however, is left to be seen. For some time now, it had been known that the President’s main intention was to change his [...]