By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera The recent prison riots at Negombo and Mahara have once again exposed the deep structural weaknesses of Sri Lanka’s prison system. Lives have been lost, public property destroyed, prison officers attacked, and the confidence of the public shaken. These are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of a prison system that […]

My presidential manifesto  Or simply: The Engineering Manifesto for a New Sri Lanka” Vision To transform Sri Lanka from a consumption-based economy into the industrial and maritime hub of the Indian Ocean through technology, engineering, education, discipline, and productive investment.” Pillar 1 – Industrial Renaissance Pillar 2 – Trincomalee: The Economic Capital One of the […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Governments are rarely defeated by their opponents alone. More often, they are weakened by divisions from within  There are examples in Sri Lanka in the past The Bolshevik Revolution succeeded because its leaders were united in achieving a common objective. Lenin, Trotsky and others worked together to overthrow the old regime […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera History repeatedly demonstrates that nations achieve rapid transformation when the institutions of the State work towards a common national purpose rather than pulling in different directions. Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, South Korea during its industrialisation, and China under Deng Xiaoping all illustrate how determined executive leadership, supported by functioning state […]

Dr Sarath Obeyekera

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera For decades, Sri Lanka has proudly spoken about women’s empowerment. Every government has launched programmes under this banner, and millions of rupees have been spent on training and awareness. Yet one fundamental question remains: Have we truly empowered women, or have we merely confined them to traditional occupations under a new […]

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර (PhD) අද ජාතික ජන බලවේගය (NPP) කුඩා දේශපාලන ව්‍යාපාරයක සිට රටේ පාලන බලය දක්වා පැමිණ තිබීම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නූතන දේශපාලන ඉතිහාසයේ සුවිශේෂී සිදුවීමකි. කවර දේශපාලන මතයක් දැරුවද, මෙම පරිවර්තනය සිදු වූ ආකාරය සහ එයින් උගත හැකි පාඩම් විමසා බැලීම වටී. මගේ මතකය අදින් වසර හැටකට ආසන්න කාලයකට පෙරට දිව යයි. 1969 වසරේ […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera A recent article published in LankaWeb argues that an economic downturn is inevitable for Sri Lanka. While I appreciate the concerns expressed, I respectfully disagree with that conclusion. Sri Lanka has already emerged from one of the darkest economic periods in its post-independence history. The country has restored macroeconomic stability, inflation […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Ex CEO / MD  Cololmbo Dockyard Ltd  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DWraodAys The latest news from Colombo Dockyard is a strong indication that the investment by India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. has already begun to strengthen confidence in the future of Sri Lanka’s premier shipbuilding and ship repair company. When this bold investment was first announced, […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Sri Lanka today stands at a historic crossroads. Economic pressures, limited foreign investment, youth unemployment, and slow industrial growth require a serious reassessment of our development strategy. Amid ongoing political debate, China’s experience offers lessons that merit objective study rather than emotional interpretation. China has undergone a major economic transformation over […]

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera From the events around Tiananmen Square in China to periods of political unrest and mass protests witnessed over the years in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Thailand, history reminds us that governments must pay close attention to the aspirations of their people. Although each country’s circumstances are different, one common lesson is that economic […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  Developing the Next Generation of Marine Professionals Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean offers immense opportunities to become a regional centre for offshore engineering, shipbuilding, ship repair, marine logistics, offshore renewable energy, oil and gas support services, fisheries technology, and the blue economy. However, realizing this potential depends on developing […]

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Patients Have a Right to Know What Medicines They Are Taking Recent reports and discussions about the quality and regulation of medicines in Sri Lanka have once again highlighted the urgent need to strengthen our pharmaceutical regulatory system. While investigations into specific allegations must be left to the relevant authorities, one issue […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  AI generated advise  For vegetables purchased in Sri Lanka, this is the household method I would recommend based on current research: 1. Remove damaged or outer leaves For cabbage, lettuce, gotukola, spinach, mukunuwenna, etc., discard the outer leaves first. 2. Prepare a baking soda solution 3. Soak 4. Rinse thoroughly 5. Dry […]

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Sri Lanka has always been known as a peaceful and welcoming nation. Tourism, foreign investment, and international business are essential for our economic growth, and genuine visitors and investors should always be welcomed. However, every country has a responsibility to ensure that immigration is properly managed and that national security is never […]

සරත් ඔබේසේකර අද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සියලුම ප්‍රතිපත්ති නිර්මාණකරුවන්ගේ අවධානයට ලක් විය යුතු විරුද්ධාභාසයකට මුහුණ දෙයි. අපගේ තරුණයන් දහස් ගණනක් විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා පුහුණු කරමින් සිටින අතර, අපගේම කර්මාන්ත දක්ෂ කම්කරුවන් සොයා ගැනීමට අසීරුතාවයට පත්ව ඇත. මෙම විරුද්ධාභාසය දැනටමත් කර්මාන්ත වර්ධනය මන්දගාමී කරමින්, විදේශ කම්කරුවන් ආනයනය කිරීම පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡා ඇති කරයි. මට මතක් වන්නේ කලින් ප්‍රබල […]

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera For decades, hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans have travelled to the Middle East seeking employment. Their remittances have become one of the country’s most important sources of foreign exchange, supporting countless families and contributing significantly to the national economy. Many employers in the Gulf provide fair wages, good accommodation and respectful […]

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Sri Lanka has always been known as a peaceful and welcoming nation. Tourism, foreign investment, and international business are essential for our economic growth, and genuine visitors and investors should always be welcomed. However, every country has a responsibility to ensure that immigration is properly managed and that national security is never […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera News item  Two chinese parties clash in port city  Sri Lanka has welcomed foreign investment for many decades, and responsible investors from China, India, Japan, Europe, the Middle East, and many other countries have made valuable contributions to our economy. However, investment and criminal activity are two very different matters, and the […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Former CEO, Colombo Dockyard PLC The tragic factory fire reported recently is not merely another unfortunate industrial accident. It is a stark reminder that industrial safety in Sri Lanka still suffers from weak enforcement, inadequate inspections, and, in some cases, a dangerous culture of complacency. Every worker leaves home expecting to […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  In addition  to installing air pumping into lake bottom other  methods are used worldwide  Malaysian Method  It is believed are referring to EM (Effective Microorganism) Mud Balls, also called Bokashi Mud Balls or Genki Balls. They are widely promoted in Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore for cleaning polluted rivers and lakes.  The […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  How Colombo Dockyard built the Shell Gas LPG Storage Terminal that later became Litro Gas The construction of the Shell Gas LPG Terminal at Muthurajawela (Kerawalapitiya) during the late 1990s was one of the most technically demanding heavy engineering projects ever undertaken in Sri Lanka. It demonstrated that Sri Lankan engineers, welders […]

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර නෝර්වේහි Draugen Power-from-Shore (PfS) ව්‍යාපෘතිය, වයස්ගත වෙමින් පවතින මුහුදුබඩ තෙල් සහ ගෑස් වේදිකාවක් නවීකරණය කර, එහි කාබන් විමෝචනය අඩු කරමින්, එහි නිෂ්පාදන කාලය දිගු කළ හැකි ආකාරය පෙන්නුම් කරන වැදගත් උදාහරණයකි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වඩාත් වැදගත් වන්නේ, නිසි කාර්මික යටිතල පහසුකම් ඇති රටකට ඉතා උසස් මට්ටමේ ඉංජිනේරු, වානේ නිෂ්පාදන සහ මුහුදුබඩ ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Norway’s Draugen Power-from-Shore (PfS) Project demonstrates how an ageing offshore oil and gas platform can be modernised to reduce emissions while extending its productive life. More importantly for Sri Lanka, it illustrates the type of sophisticated engineering, fabrication and offshore construction work that countries with the right industrial infrastructure can undertake. The […]

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර කටාර් රාජ්‍යය අද ලෝකයේ සාර්ථකම බලශක්ති ආර්ථිකයන්ගෙන් එකක් බවට පත්ව ඇත්තේ ස්වාභාවික වායු (LNG) අපනයනය පමණක් නොව, ඒ වටා ගොඩනැගූ සමස්ත කර්මාන්ත පරිසර පද්ධතිය (Industrial Ecosystem) හේතුවෙනි. විශේෂයෙන් රස් ලෆ්ෆාන් කර්මාන්ත නගරය (Ras Laffan Industrial City) සහ North Field ව්‍යාපෘති ආශ්‍රිතව, කටාර් රජය ලොව ප්‍රමුඛ ඉංජිනේරු සමාගම්, තාක්ෂණික ආයතන, EPC කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන්, පර්යේෂණ […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  Al-Shaheen Field Expansion Project, Qatar The project I am referring to is the Ru’ya Development Project, a major expansion of Qatar’s offshore Al-Shaheen oilfield, operated by North Oil Company, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies. Central Processing Platform One of the largest packages covers a new Central Processing Platform complex. The approximately […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  Qatar’s Energy Hub – A Model Sri Lanka Can Learn From Qatar has deliberately developed an integrated energy ecosystem rather than relying solely on LNG production. Around the giant Ras Laffan Industrial City and the North Field developments, it has attracted engineering companies, technology providers, service contractors, financial institutions, training centres, and […]

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Prepared by: Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Chairman – Advisory Board on Offshore and Marine Industry Development Under the Export Development Board (EDB), Sri Lanka Fabweld Academy (Pvt) Ltd 1. Background Sri Lanka’s shipbuilding, offshore fabrication, and heavy engineering industries face a growing shortage of certified welders meeting international standards (ASME, AWS, ISO 9606). […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  NVQ Level 3 (National Vocational Qualification) is an intermediate vocational qualification that certifies a person is competent to perform skilled work independently. In Sri Lanka, it is awarded under the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) Framework, which is regulated by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC). For welding, an NVQ Level 3 […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Sovereign Project | 60010-001 ADB Must Think Beyond Containers: Make Trincomalee the Offshore Industrial Capital of the Indian Ocean and Galle as a high end marina  The Asian Development Bank’s initiative to update Sri Lanka’s National Port Master Plan presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the country’s maritime future. If this exercise […]