Posts Categorized: Economy

Military and Poverty

by Dr. S. Santhirasegaram, Developing Country Studies, 2013 Santhirasegaram Military and Poverty 2013 5. Conclusion Military forces employed by 97 percent of majority Singhalese has been getting more economic benefits from expansion of security forces. Social welfare expenditure from independent to 1980s in Sri Lanka biased to majority and made political unrest and violent which… Read more »

Ecological Disaster in Vallikamam, North Sri Lanka

Donate to Sangam’s efforts to determine the extent & cause of the spill and work on clean-up. by Lankawebnews.com, March 4, 2015 There is an ecological disaster of serious proportions takingshape over the last few years with the effects already showing in the Vallikamam area of Northern Sri Lanka. It is being realized by the… Read more »

Sri Lankan President Assures Completion of Country’s Largest Irrigation Project on Schedule

[T]he President said it is a fulfillment of an expectation of the people in North-Central Province. He assured that when the project is successfully completed the water required for the farmers in North-Central Province for their farming activities will be provided from the Moragahakanda irrigation system. Recalling that he laid the foundation for the project in 2007 as the Minister of Mahaweli Development, he said funds for the project were not given for a period of five and half years.

He also held discussion with the project engineers, officials and all other resource personnel at the site. The Chinese Ambassador also joined the occasion.

The largest reservoir project under the Mahaweli River Development Program was launched to provide a domestic and industrial water supply to Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, and Polonnaruwa and Matale districts for the development of agriculture in the north, east, and northwestern provinces.

US A/S DRL in Sri Lanka

Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: Forum on Women’s Role in Post-War Reconciliation 04/02/2015 11:35 AM EDT Forum on Women’s Role in Post-War Reconciliation Remarks Tom MalinowskiAssistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Colombo, Sri Lanka April 2, 2015 As prepared for delivery Thank you all for having me here today. Thanks particularly to Ms…. Read more »

US Foreign Assistance

http://www.foreignassistance.gov/web/OU.aspx?FromRGA=true&OUID=229&FY=2015&AgencyID=0&budTab=tab_Bud_Overview State and USAID: It has been nearly five years since the end of Sri Lankas 26 year civil war, and circumstances are more challenging than they were a year ago. Although Northern Provincial Council elections were held in September 2013, there has been little movement on reconciliation or accountability by the Government of Sri… Read more »

World Bank Data Indicators

http://data.worldbank.org/country/sri-lanka World Development Indicators School enrollment, primary (% gross) 98% 2012 Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) 6.7% 2013 8.9% 2010 15.2% 2007 22.7% 2002 28.8% 1996 Improved water source, rural (% of rural population with access) 93% 2012 92% 2011 90% 2010 89% 2009 87% 2008 Life expectancy at birth, total (years) 74 2012 GNI per capita, Atlas method (current… Read more »

A Remittance Dependent Import-Export Economy

View(s): The Sri Lankan economy is increasingly becoming a remittance dependent import-export economy. In the first half of this year remittances amounted to US$ 3.36 billion — a 10.6 per cent increase from that of the first half of last year. These remittances in the first half of the year almost wiped out the trade deficit,… Read more »

CEPA Forum in Colombo Live

Post-War Development in Asia & Africa http://cepasymposium2014.wordpress.com/live-stream/ Previous sessions have been posted on YouTube. TIME SESSIONS 5.00PM – 6.30PM Inaugural session – 31st August 2014 <Main Hall> DAY 1 – 01st September 2014 09.00AM – 10.00 AM Registration and tea 10.00AM – 10.30 AM Welcome and Introduction: <Main Hall > 10.30AM – 12.30 PM Panel 1: Development and… Read more »

Land Use Around Puttalam Lagoon

https://www.iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/asia/elg/mcp/initiatives/coastal_ecosystems_rehabilitation_and_conservation_in_sri_lanka_and_thailand__bmz_/resources___sri_lanka/ “This project forms a component of the Mangroves for the Future Initiative (MFF), a multicountry, multi-sector programme involving tsunami-affected countries of the Indian Ocean.” vvv

Monitoring Change in Sri Lanka’s Valikamam High Security Zone:

by Geospatial Technologies & Human Rights Project, American Academy for the Advancement of Science, Washington, August 2014 Full report http://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/AAAS_Sri_Lanka_2014.pdf or AAAS_Sri_Lanka_2014 Between 2011 and 2014, large numbers of structures were added to the study area in a manner indicating that they were residential in nature. Left Image: DigitalGlobe | Right image: Airbus Defense and Space |… Read more »

Livelihoods Lost while Military has Land says NPC Member

Northern Provincial Council member Thurairasa Ravikaran said Tamils in Mullaitivu have lost their livelihoods without access to their land, which remains under Sri Lankan military control. The people of Mullaitivu have faced continuous difficulties in temporary settlements, despite Sri Lankan government claims that they were resettled 4 years ago, the Uthayan reported him as saying. Without the… Read more »

Estimates of Sri Lanka 2014 Paddy Production

It contributes the decline to a 15% reduction in paddy planted area due to the prolonged dry weather since the beginning of the season, especially in the main northern and eastern paddy producing regions.

Land Grabs Jeopardize Peace in Sri Lanka

Christina Williams is an attorney and founder of Reinventing the Rules, a website dedicated to covering the latest trends and lessons learned in the rule of law sector. She has worked on human rights campaigns related to Sri Lanka for several years and is currently focusing on women and land rights in the region. The end… Read more »

A Food Crisis Waiting to Happen

The problem points to a particularly worrisome situation for the people in the north who bore much of the brunt of the ethnic war and who depend entirely on agriculture and fisheries for their livelihood. Photo: Meera Srinivasan With the monsoon failing, the fisheries sector not showing much promise, and disputes over water sharing, northern… Read more »

Thamils Should Not Lose Heart, But Fight Back Peacefully

Independence for the Thamils have meant slow liquidation of their identity as a Nation that lived in well defined territory with their own language, arts, culture, customs and heritage. They have been living in the Northeast historically for several centuries…

In 1946 the Thamils (both Ceylon and Thamils of Indian origin) constituted 22.75 (1,514,300) and Sinhalese 69.41 (4,620,500), but in 2011 the Thamil population declined to 15.37 (3,113,247) while the Sinhalese population rose to 74.88 (15,173,820). This decline is reflected in the dilution of their parliamentary representation

Land and Development in the North-East

This week, Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister Wigneswaranlamented the lack of economic development in the North, berating the Sri Lankan state for its “conqueror” mindset and festering militarisation that has come to engulf the Tamil North-East. In particular Wigneswaran highlighted the forcible acquisition of land by the government, a pertinent issue that has gained international attention,… Read more »

Conference on State Grabs of Tamil Land

by ‘Tamil Guardian,’ London, January 31 and February 1, 2014 (Conference held January 31 and February 1 at British House of Commons and University College London) Pictures at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.675928429136367&type=3&l=0d6e7c22a2 DAY 1 The first day of an international conference on the Sri  Lankan state’s forcible and militarised procurement of Tamil land, saw a number of speakers calling… Read more »

CPA: Land Acquisition in NE

CPA Land Acquisition North and East Nov 2013 [PDF] The Centre for Policy Brief (CPA) in its most recent policy brief titled ‘Politics, Policies and Practices with Land Acquisitions and Related Issues in the North and East of Sri Lanka’ issued today draws attention to several disturbing trends of land acquisition and related issues in the… Read more »