By Garvin Karunaratne A word of praise is due to our President Gotabhaya, his team and the doctors of the Health Service for the excellent manner they are tackling the Coronavirus Epidemic. Sri Lanka stands far ahead in the manner they are tackling the epidemic. We have so far had six deaths while the UK […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Please consider getting the Army to establish the Marketing Department of the Fifties and thereby enable vegetable availability as well as controlling inflation. It can be later developed to be a major department. The total outlay can be recouped including the cost of establishing a Cannery within the first year. I can […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, It is hoped that our President’s attention is brought to the fact that our country was the only country in the world to  have a system by which the prices of veg and fruit was unofficially controlled. That was the Marketing Department(MD) at work, buying and selling vegetables and fruit, competing with […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, PhD. Michigan State University Ideas of possible development, poverty alleviation for the people in Hambantota reign supreme in my mind as I watch the parade of our President and Prime Minister opening the Hambantota Section of our Southern Highway. I recall a Paper I have published earlier which deserves immediate action. It […]

By Garvin Karunaratne I bequeath to my readers the Conclusion of my book: Wind Power for Sri Lanka’s Power Requirements. It in unfortunate that our authorities in establishing wind turbines in Sri Lanka have so far ignored  the mountainous areas where there is ample wind power.  My mind travels to a book by John Perkins, […]

By Garvin Karunaratne While renewable energy should be the aim in power generation, it has so happened that we are currently walking in the opposite direction. We are ignoring the resources that Mother Nature has provided for us. The news item: Small Hydro Power Developers Association calls on the President for protection”(FT:29/1/20)  tells me of […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Immediate action is due to arrest the unduly high prices of vegetables today.  I enclose a Paper I wrote in 2017 which addresses this aspect in the hope that it will reach one of our new leaders.

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D – Posted on August 31st, 2011

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University Our new Government of President Gotabhaya has decided to hold up mega projects till the budget in August 2020.(The decision of our new Government to Mega projects on hold until August budget:”(Sunday Times:12/01/20)) My mind travels in nostaglia to two world class development programmes which commenced without a […]

By Garvin Karunaratne The high prices for vegetables in Sri Lanka today tells me of where we went wrong.  Once in the pre IMF days, in the days before Sri Lanka started playing poodle to the IMF Sri Lanka did have a method by which it controlled inflation. That was the Marketing Department at work. […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It is heartening to note that our new Governor of the Central Bank had understood that the IMF’s neoliberal economics that we have closely  followed from 1978, has miserably failed.(Sri Lanka’s new chief flays Neo Liberalism”: Economy Next 28/12/19) Following the IMF since 1978- for over four decades, has made us become […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Over twenty percent of young people in the World, have failed to find a due place in the economic ladder and have become drop offs of the education and development system. Definite action to equip them to become entrepreneurs has to get priority. . Every country has a plethora of job skills […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It is heartening to note that our new Government is taking action to stop the import of items that we can easily make. This has commenced with kites, wesak lanterns, jos sticks and palm oil. This Import Substitution is to my thinking the only certain method of rejuvenating our economy. If we […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It is an opportune moment to highlight the fact that Sri Lanka can do better by having its own industries, instead of depending on imports. We have to create employment for our youth and also save foreign exchange by making things we import.  I have many a time, while offering flowers at […]

Garvin Karunaratne, PhD Michigan State University* The DDCP was the major development programme undertaken by the Government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayake during her 1970-1977 rule. This was also the first major islandwide development programme ever to be implemented in Sri Lanka. Earlier there was the Rural Development Programme and the Small Industries Development Programme […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Selling the Motherland crept into our leaders only after the General Election of 1977.  In my working life from 1955 to 1973 in Sri Lanka   I have kept close association with ,many of our leaders- Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake, , Ministers P.C.Imbulana, Vimala Kannangara,  Dr N.M. Perera, P.G.B Kalugalle,  T.B. Subasinghe, NH […]

By Garvin Karunaratne , Ph.D. Michigan State University In the current chaotic situation where our economy has totally floundered, with a massive debt that defies any solution it will be prudent to note that till 1977 our country managed the economy, attending to massive development tasks also,  without falling into debt. I happen to be […]

Garvin Karunaratne,Ph.D. Michigan State University, former Government Agent, Matara.  I am prompted to write about what was achieved in Sri Lanka since we gained independence in order to educate some of our presidential aspirants who have said that we have not achieved anything. I can emphatically state that Sri Lanka had done wonders in the […]

Garvin Karunaratne I am prompted to write about what was achieved in development since Sri Lanka achieved independence because some of our presidential aspirants have said that Sri Lanka had no development from the time we got independence 71 years ago.  It is sad to note that some of our presidential aspirants happen to be […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, In the Seventies, the Government Agent’s Conference  was accorded great prominence.  The Government Agent  was the Head of the District and presided over as the Head of the District Coordinating Commiittee that coordinated all development programmes in the District. He was also the Head of the District Agricultural Committee. All allocations of […]

by Garvin Karunaratne, former Government Agent, Matara I am prompted to write about what was achieved in development since Sri Lanka achieved independence because some of our presidential aspirants have said that Sri Lanka had no development whatsoever since gaining independence 71 years ago. It is sad to note that some of our presidential aspirants […]

Garvin Karunaratne, former G.A. Matara Red Onions was a major crop produced in the Jaffna Peninsula. Gerry Stevens the Assistant Commissioner ran round in circles to ensure that the cooperatives bought red onions from producers at the premium price we offered and handed the stocks to our stores where we stored them and dispatched them […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Clearing my RV at Baltimore Docks reminded me of my Marketing Departments days in 1955 when we worked from sheds and temporarily built structures. Today our plan to bring down the Cost of Living needs brand new shops to house the Coop and CWE Outlets.  I was told that I could […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Seeing what is happening in Elpitiya my mind travels back decades to a youth that struck me most in my eighteen years’ service in the Administrative Service of my beloved country. It was a youth from Elpitiya. In 1970 I was the Deputy Director in the Small Industries Department in charge of […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Many authorities in Sri Lanka  are waiting with open arms to grab the MCC Grant of $ 480 million. They do not care that some 28% of the country will be sold off to the USA for two hundred years.. Two hundred years is well over the period that Sri Lanka was […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. In view of the fact that over twenty percent of young people in the World, have failed to find a due place in the economic ladder and have become drop offs of the education and development system, definite action to equip them to become contributors to society has to get priority. […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It is perhaps the right time to address our economic situation. We are currently deep in debt with some $ 60 billion to repay which we never can. Poverty is on the increase because 51% of the country’s income is earned by the richest 20% of the people. In 1976 we did […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It was these two facts that caused the failure of Zimbabwe. My Paper reproduced here tells the details. The death of Robert Mugabe has brought a spate of writing which appears to portray him as a lost cause, due to his failings. However as my earlier writing of 2008 portray that the […]

By Garvin Karunaratne The Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe has warned any new Government: Follow the beaten track or else there will be chaos. (Sri Lanka Risks losing debt market access if future government policy changes” , (AdaDerana:9/8/2019) I would tend to think that there could have been some substance in […]

By Garvin Karunaratne In the Eighties, we sacrificed the verdant Kotmale Valley for a mere 200 MW of Power. The Kotmale Dam does not provide any water for irrigation. That 200MW of power at that time when there were wind turbines that produced an easy 3 MW, could have been produced by 70 wind turbines […]