By Garvin Karunratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University The Sri Lankan economy is truly in the doldrums. The BBC has recently in a spate of news broadcasts, derogatorily questioned: Is Sri Lanka Up for Sale.”(28/5/2017). This was preceded on 26 th June 2017, by another news item, A Country Trapped in Debt”. Their  Is Sri Lanka […]

Garvin Karunaratne Former Government Agent, Matara It is reported in the past Sunday Times  that we are getting sand from overseas as far as the Philippines and Indonesia.(Sunday Times) I wonder why. We have ample resources of sand. Having worked in over half the Districts in Sri Lanka and having done islandwide circuits over the […]

Garvin Karunaratne HLD Mahindapala  in his Paper, How Many Homelands do the Jaffna Tamils need, quotes Historian Arsaratne who states that there was a Jaffna kingdom in 1325. This is incorrect. The evidence is that when the Portuguese did attack Jaffna the king of Kandy who ruled entire Sri Lanka sent his army headed by Mudliyar Atapattu […]

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University Former Government Agent, Matara District. 12/5/2017 The Garbage Disaster The garbage pile at Meetotamulla erupted, took the lives of 32 or more and we are in complacency- now, we are talking. There are piles of Garbage at various places and some authorities state that they will not explode.  I […]

By  Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D. Michigan State University Former SLAS, Government Agent, Matara In the Seventies, the IMF took on the new role of prescribing the  path to be taken by the Third World countries to run their economies. This was the Structural Adjustment Program the IMF  foised on  every country that sought financial help. In the […]

by Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Centre for Global Poverty Alleviation, London I am reproducing a paper written and published one and a half decades ago which shows that we have never learned from our.  mistakes.  I highlight the fact that even at this late hour when our economy is in tatters, our leaders will concentrate on building […]

Garvin Karunaratne When I visited the Mollipotana monk the first time in January 2014 the temple was desolate. It was in the morning at around ten. The  Bo Tree, the small place of worship was  all bare of human beings. The Awasa, the residence of the monks was also desolate and I dared to move […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It is reported that the IMF is recommending the Sale of a few of our Assets- the Colombo Hilton, Lanka Hospitals, Hyatt Hotel  and Waters Edge -all to bag $ 1.5 billion to solve today’s economic crisis. What really happens is that this $ 1.5 billion will be paid to our creditors […]

By Garvin Karunaratne The  President of the United States, Donald Trump has declared that America will change course. It is America to Produce and for the Americans to Buy American Products. This of course is a policy that has been ignored by the multimillion dollar multinationals whose craze for profits made them move factories to […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph D. At this very moment 2500 or more of the world’s most influential people are gathered in Davos, Switzerland   to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world. This Economic Forum  is committed to improving the state of the world”. It is ironical that the USA, the most important and influential […]

By Garvin Karunaratne In my endless travels in countries in three continents, the only country where wind turbines have been continuously sited in the coastal areas happens to be Sri Lanka. In Lanzorette in theCanaries, firstly the authorities built two turbines on the coast, but later they realized their mistake and built up dozens of […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D Michigan State University Former Government Agent, Matara District, The IMF has in its recommendation to the Government on Sri Lanka in their evaluation to grant the second tranche- $ 1.5 billion stated  that they could not in good conscience” release the funds unless the Government passes the VAT increase to 15%. (Daily FT, […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Firstly the Kidney Disease, then the Dengu and what I think is coming over the horizon- is Arsenic. No one upto now has stated that the third,  Arsenic is on its way. But signs are there and unless immediate action is taken it will take a major toll. Both the Kidney Disease […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Former Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services at Nuwara Eliya Government Agent, Matara   Kotmale, a Valley of great beauty and charm, where our celebrated poet Wimlaratne Kumaragama once lived, The hallowed residence where he penned verse after verse When he was DeeArrOoo is no more. The waters of the Kotmale River took it all. […]

By Garvin Karunaratne On my recent travel to Snowdonia in Wales, I happened to visit the Corris Industrial Unit.  What was most interesting was a Mini Distillery using many ingredients, including an array of spices, turning out special alcoholic drinks I kept wondering  what I could have done if I had known this mini Distillery […]

Garvin Karunaratne Former Govt. Agent, Matara Reading Dr Sunil Abeysundera;s’s comment on St Peter’s College published recently in the Daily Mirror prompted me to write my experiences.   I was there at about the same time and can remember Dr Abeysundera. I studied Arts subjects and therefore the main characters may be different. Nevertheless it is worth […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.(Michigan State University) The Sri Lankan Economy is in the doldrums. It has been in the doldrums for long- since 1977, when we  under the advice of the IMF agreed to run the country with borrowed funds, ceded the right to determine the value of our currency and liberalized the use of […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It was once a haven for weary officials Weary at work, attending to the chores of the people. They all  emerged from the capital at Ratnapura, Worked the full day, inspections on hill and dale At the end they waded in the cool waters of Belihul Oya Resting their weary limbs And […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D The other day when I was in  Anuradhapura, my mind lingered to the 25,000 farmers of the North Central Province who have succumbed to the CDKu- the Kidney Disease.  Some of them may have been the young farmers with whom I worked in the 300 cultivation committees I set up in […]

By Garvin Karunaratne President Kirchner’s Era  ends in Argentina, with her loss at the general election. Comes in a Conservative Maurico Macri,  who vows to build an Argentina with Zero Poverty. It is a noble aim. The new leader faces a massive task  with inflation at over 20%, unemployment at 30% and a debt default  […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Since the days of President Jayawardena we have got used to look for foreign goods and  following the IMF model of allowing imports without any control, spending our foreign exchange for luxury purposes even when we did not have sufficient funds, we have become an indebted country. The IMF advice was […]

Garvin Karunaratne Touring Normandy, I visited the Omaha Beach, the Juno Beach, the Gold Beach and Sword Beach where thousands of Allied Forces soldiers perished for the cause of peace in the World War II. It is estimated that at least 130,000 soldiers died for the cause of peace. My mind travels back to the […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It is important to note that forces of neo-colonialism are ably conquering our country today. The IMF, an agent of Neocolonialism did make our country indebted by forcing the FreeMarket NeoLiberal  Economic Model in 1977. Our inept leaders are furthering this model by selling everything in our country to foreigners and today […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D.(Michigan State University) Greece, once a mighty country, is now in the dog house, with its economy in  tatters, its rulers begging the Troica- the IMF, the EU and the ECB for funds to subsist.  The writer about a decade and a half ago visited Greece, clocking some 5000 miles, wandering all […]

Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D. Michigan State University. This time it is Greece, a country that is unable to service its Foreign  Debt. Just now the Hellenic Parliament is approving the austerity package approved by the Troica- the IMF with the EU and the ECB together. It is an austerity package that would cause more poverty among the […]

Garvin Karunaratne Two days well spent in Moscow Our Guide Olga showed us the way The Kremlin and the imposive buildings The Diamond Fund showing  the regalia of Russia Gone are the misadventures in the economy, Gorbachov, is no more, Gone are his Perestroika and Glasnost Gifted with a  Noble Prize he lives in luxury’ […]

By Garvin Karunaratne., Ph.D. Michigan State University. I travelled half the world on the Trans Siberian Railway and entered China through Mongolia. I was amazed at the development that was taking  place apace. The land was barren and desert, with a trace of water at the bottom low lands,   like the land we had passed […]

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State, M.Phil.Edinburgh, M.Ed. Manchester The Evening Standard(U.K.) of 27 th March 2015, I am living proof that you can take a business idea formed in prison and make a success of your life” narrated the success of Ms Moffatt, an entrepreneur (once a prisoner at Holloway) as a result of the […]

By Garvin Karunaratne In today’s context when some of our own leaders have thought it fit to balkanize the SLFP, it is necessary for the current leaders as well as the Sinhala masses to  be aware that the SLFP was the only Political Party that stood for the masses of the Sinhala people- the downtrodden- […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Today’s Island tells us that the SLFP and UPFA have decided to deny nominations to their parliamentarians to contest the forthcoming parliamentary polls in the event they decline to vote in favour of the 19 th Amendment to the Constitution” It is also important to note that , this decision has been […]