Category: Watch Tower
Opinion: Suggestions from a small business for the budget
By Ranjit Hulugalle I run a printing business which employs nearly 100 people in Biyagama, outside of the BOI — Board of Investment zones for export. It is not in the zone and does not get any privileges, tax concessions and other benefits that companies receive at the zone. Our main inputs are imported papers, […]
Opinion: Rajagiriya flyover, for whose benefit?
By Commuter Commuters on Sri Jayewardenepura Mawatha are currently circumnavigating a construction site in the middle of the road in Rajagiriya. The site – and therefore the circumnavigation – appears to be getting longer by the day. The signboard put up by RDA at the side of the road indicates that the flyover under construction […]
Opinion: Sampur Coal Power Plant, how did it get environmental clearance?
By Vidhura Ralapanawa The Trincomalee Coal Power Plant (TCPP), a joint venture between Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Indian coal power giant NTPC, was planning to build a 500MW subcritical coal power plant in Sampur, in the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project is replete with errors of […]
Opinion: Big banks exploit countries like Sri Lanka, probe finds
Sept 07, 2016 (LBO) – Big banks have turned to the powerful worldwide legal system and commandeered it for profit, exploiting countries like Sri Lanka in the process, according to a Buzzfeed probe. In 2006, big international banks presented officials who ran Sri Lanka’s state oil venture with a way to hedge against further price […]
Opinion: Viharamahadevi Park – Time To Finish What Gotabaya Started
By Lancelot Viharamahadevi Park, once called Victoria park, is the showcase public park for the city of Colombo. It rests in a place of prominence in our city and has a vital role to play in the development and beautification of the proposed Megapolis. I have visited the park well over one hundred times in […]
Opinion: Ceylon Steel excels with standardized “Flat Iron”
By Dr Edwin Ariyadasa Making Steel Industry history in Sri Lanka, Ceylon Steel Corporation has entered in to the production of standardized “Flat Iron”. Among the welding technicians, “Flat Iron” is known as “Steel Plating”. Ceylon Steel Corporation Ltd, the pioneer in Sri Lanka Steel Industry, presents standardized flat iron to the market, along with […]
Opinion: Globalization and technology need saving from themselves
By Rich Lesser, President, The Boston Consulting Group What does the political environment in many developed nations tell us about the sustainability of two of the major drivers of global economic progress: globalization and technology? This piece offers a personal perspective on the root causes and implications of the current turmoil and what corporate leaders […]
Opinion: Sampur Coal vs LNG – backward looking policy on display
By Lancelot The Sampur power plant has been a topic of much contention over the last few years. Now there is a school of thought that the plant should be fueled by LNG, as opposed to Coal. Many analysts, and also top level corporate titans, see this as a problem as the project timeline will […]
Opinion: Education – what is the objective?
By Ranjit Hulugalle Each day we have numerous articles on what is wrong with the education system, arguing that children must be taught how to think, not what to think. Frankly this has been the broken record for 70 years since the Kannangara education reforms, making education accessible to all. We simply have not corrected […]
Opinion: Investing in an increasingly uncertain world
By Alexis Calla As savers and investors, most of us concern ourselves with the short-term. And these days, the short-term concerns have been keeping us quite busy. The impact of Britain’s momentous decision to leave the European Union, the testy US Presidential elections, major central banks’ seemingly incessant policy manoeuvres to forestall an economic hard […]
Opinion: MRT vs LRT shows lack of Vision by Sri Lanka’s Urban Planners
By Lancelot Reports on Lanka Business Online indicate that Sri Lanka has decided to choose Light Rail Transit over a Monorail system, and that Japan has confirmed the funding. To a person with some vision, this seems like a choice between dumb and dumber. The world is moving in a different direction. Car sharing, ride […]
Opinion: Sri Lanka Dept Of Immigration And Emigration Is A National Disgrace
By Lancelot Being a Sri Lankan who has lived abroad, I have made several dozen trips to the Department of Immigration and Emigration over the past decade. I have been to the department for Passports, Visas, Dual Citizenship, and to help a friend navigate the process once or twice. A few days ago, I did […]