Dr Sarath Obeysekera While Sri Lanka continues debating the shortage of construction labour, countries such as Turkey are already preparing for the next generation of construction materials. For decades, the world relied on brick, concrete, steel, and timber as the primary building materials. Today, however, advanced economies are increasingly introducing composite structural elements made from […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Turkey concentrated ship recycling activities in Aliağa during the 1970s and developed nearby steel mills that could immediately consume recycled steel from ships. Today, the area handles ships, offshore platforms, FPSOs, naval vessels, and large commercial ships under regulated environmental standards.   A key advantage is that recovered steel does not travel […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Lessons to learn  Singapore faced severe labour shortages and rising labour costs. Instead of importing unlimited workers, the government pushed the industry towards prefabrication, modular construction, and steel-based systems through its Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) strategy. The Building and Construction Authority reports that prefabricated construction methods can improve productivity by […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://fortune.com/2026/06/01/iran-conflict-disrupted-oil-supply-gulf-states-multi-billion-dollar-investments-renewables Every conflict in the Middle East sends shockwaves through global energy markets. The latest tensions involving Iran have once again reminded the world how vulnerable modern economies remain to disruptions in oil supply. For decades, oil has been both a blessing and a curse. It has fueled economic growth, industrial development, […]

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර ඉන්ධන මිල ගණන් අඛණ්ඩව ඉහළ යාම හේතුවෙන් පවුල්වලටත් ව්‍යාපාරවලටත් විශාල ආර්ථික බරක් එල්ල වී තිබේ. මේ තත්ත්වය හමුවේ ලොව බොහෝ රටවල් ජනතාවගේ ගමනාගමන අවශ්‍යතා පවත්වාගෙන යමින් ඉන්ධන පරිභෝජනය අවම කිරීම සඳහා නවෝත්පාදන ක්‍රියාමාර්ග අනුගමනය කරමින් සිටී. සංවර්ධිත රටවල සාර්ථකව ක්‍රියාත්මක වන මෙවැනි ක්‍රමවේදයන්ගෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවටද ප්‍රයෝජනවත් පාඩම් රැසක් උකහා ගත හැකිය. ඇමරිකා […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Sri Lanka is once again showing signs of economic recovery. Major infrastructure projects are being discussed, highways are being planned, urban development is accelerating, and private sector investment is slowly returning. Yet beneath this optimism lies a serious challenge that threatens to derail the country’s construction ambitions: the severe shortage of both […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera One of the most important strategic decisions Sri Lanka can make is to gradually shift from labour-intensive conventional construction towards a steel-based construction industry. Traditional building methods depend heavily on large numbers of masons, carpenters, bar benders, and other tradesmen. With the growing shortage of skilled labour, these methods are becoming increasingly […]

Dr, Sarath Obeysekera As fuel prices continue to place a heavy burden on households and businesses, governments around the world are exploring innovative ways to reduce fuel consumption while maintaining mobility. Many developed countries have successfully implemented policies that encourage shared travel, public transport, and flexible working arrangements. Sri Lanka can learn from these examples […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera 31/05/2026 Sunday observer   The recent launch of Sri Lanka’s ‘Ready to Invest’ platform (readytoinvestsl.com) by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) is a positive and timely initiative that signals the country’s renewed effort to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into strategic sectors of the economy. The platform showcases 30 […]

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone for the Kurunegala–Galagedara Expressway marks the beginning of another important chapter in Sri Lanka’s highway development programme. While politicians gather to celebrate the launch, the real test will be whether the project can be delivered on time, within budget, and without becoming another victim of […]

From AI resources MTD Walkers expanded aggressively into roads, piling, power, marine engineering, real estate, and infrastructure projects during a period when large government-funded construction contracts were flowing into the market. By 2018–2019, the group had accumulated tens of billions of rupees in debt. Several reports alleged that some facilities from state banks were granted […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Without Prejudice  For the attention  of  Lady Justice  (  she  is called Lady Justice. She is usually depicted holding a balance scale and a sword, and often wears a blindfold to symbolize impartiality and fairness. In Washington, D.C., versions of Lady Justice can be seen at several important government buildings, including the United […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Recently, the SLPA Chairman made an important presentation to the German delegation regarding port expansion plans, but Trincomalee appeared to have been left out of the overall development formula. EU-Sri Lanka forum discusses maritime, logistics hub potential | EconomyNext The Government should clearly clarify whether India’s strategic interests and existing involvement in […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/Colombo-port-expansion-plans-gather-pace-with-US-2Bn-pipeline/108-341509 Sri Lanka’s ambitious US$ 2 billion port expansion programme may look impressive on paper, but without a competent, technically driven execution team, many of these projects risk becoming expensive national fantasies. The proposed Colombo North Port expansion is a classic example. For years, experts have warned that the northern boundary of […]

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/adani-green-energy-commissions-worlds-largest-battery-storage-system-11548396/amp/1 ඉන්දියාවේ විශාලතම බැටරි බලශක්ති ගබඩා පද්ධතිවලින් එකක් ආරම්භ කිරීමට අදාළව අදානි සමාගම විසින් මෑතකදී කළ නිවේදනය, ශක්ති, වරාය, ලොජිස්ටික්ස් හා යටිතල පහසුකම් ක්ෂේත්‍රවල අනාගතය දෙස ඉන්දියානු මහා ව්‍යාපාරික සමූහ කෙසේ වේගයෙන් හා දැවැන්ත අභිලාෂයකින් ගමන් කරන්නේද යන්න ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට නැවත මතක් කර දෙයි. එහෙත් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් සඳහා අදානි” යන නාමය මතු […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/travel/india-is-dirtiest-country-vlogger-praises-sri-lanka-critiques-india-s-tourism-decline-due-to-poor-cleanliness-101779874371832.html# During my routine early morning walk along the Kimbulawala walking path ,  I keep noticing heap of garbage  on both sides of the Madiwela road for several weeks Irony is one heap lies next to the police post for weeks  Often I see the two young cops looking at the mobiles […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Proposal for Facilitation of Betting & Gaming License Approvals in Sri Lanka As Sri Lanka seeks new avenues for foreign direct investment, tourism growth, and foreign exchange earnings, the development of a regulated betting and gaming industry within the Colombo Port City framework deserves serious consideration. Global gaming hubs such as Macau, […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera The online casino and gambling sector in Sri Lanka has been growing quietly but rapidly over the last decade, driven by smartphone penetration, digital payments, tourism, and weak regulatory enforcement in cyberspace. While traditional gambling was once limited mainly to physical casinos in Colombo targeting tourists,specifically chinese and Indians  online betting and […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/adani-green-energy-commissions-worlds-largest-battery-storage-system-11548396/amp/1 The recent announcement that  Adani  has commissioned one of the world’s largest battery energy storage systems in India once again reminds Sri Lanka of the scale, speed, and ambition with which Indian conglomerates are moving into the future of energy, ports, logistics, and infrastructure. For Sri Lankans, however, the name Adani” […]

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර (Dr. Sarath Obeysekera) උපායමාර්ගික අවධානය යොමු කරන ප්‍රදේශ 1. යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනය ● ද්විත්ව භාවිත Mini Marinas: ධීවර වරායන් 21ක් ධීවර හා විවේක යාත්‍රා සඳහා marinas බවට පරිවර්තනය කිරීම, සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරය වැඩි කිරීම සහ නව ආදායම් මාර්ග උත්පාදනය කිරීම. ප්‍රධාන ස්ථාන අතර ගාල්ල, බේරුවල සහ ත්‍රිකුණාමලය ඇතුළත් වේ. ● බෝට්ටු නිෂ්පාදන කලාප: […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Brazil’s offshore oil industry is dominated by the state-controlled energy giant Petrobras, which operates one of the world’s largest deepwater offshore production networks. Most production comes from the pre-salt” offshore basins located far offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, particularly the Santos and Campos Basins. From AI resources – What is an FPSO? […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Kandidat Tekhneecheski Nauk (1977) For decades, Sri Lanka has looked mostly toward Asia, the Middle East, and occasionally Europe for economic partnerships. Yet one of the world’s most successful maritime-industrial nations remains largely ignored in our strategic thinking — Brazil. Brazil is not merely a football nation or an agricultural giant […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera After graduating and working overseas in the UK and Norway, I returned to Sri Lanka and joined Colombo Dockyard as a consulting engineer. My task was to help develop new business opportunities in general engineering to fill the revenue gap caused by the decline in ship repairs and new boatbuilding work. […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/25/hundreds-construction-firms-risk-collapse-reeves Britain, one of the world’s most advanced economies, is facing an alarming wave of construction company failures. Reports now warn that hundreds of UK construction firms are at risk of collapse due to rising fuel prices, high interest rates, labour shortages, delayed payments and geopolitical instability.   The situation has […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera The Sri Lankan construction industry is facing a serious shortage of skilled labour, especially after the economic crisis and migration of workers to the Middle East, Europe, Australia and even Maldives. According to recent industry estimates, Sri Lanka may face a shortage of nearly 20,000 skilled workers in 2026, and the industry […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera From IT Giant to Shipbuilding Giant: Can Modi’s India Challenge China at Sea?” Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing one of the biggest maritime industrial strategies India has attempted since independence. The plan is not merely about building ships. It is about transforming India into a strategic maritime manufacturing power by 2047 […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Question  With sand at 36000 per cu cement at 2200 per bag and metal cube at 11000 it is not viable to build building in concrete Better to carry out steel buildings  Answer  Aboce observation  /wueztio  reflects what many contractors and developers in Sri Lanka are now discussing seriously. With approximate present […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera බදු ආර්ථිකයෙන් ආයෝජන ආර්ථිකයකට අද ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩු වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කරන්නේ බදු එකතු කිරීම මගින් ආර්ථිකය පාලනය කිරීමටයි. එය අවශ්‍ය වුවත්, ජනතාවට සහ ව්‍යාපාරිකයන්ට එය දැඩි බරක් වී ඇත. බොහෝ දෙනාට මෙය බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය යුගයේ ශරීර බද්ද” මෙන් දැනේ. නමුත් ඉතිහාසයෙන් අපට පෙනෙන්නේ බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයන් බදු එකතු කළා පමණක් නොව, දුම්රිය, මාර්ග, වරාය […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  Ex CEO Cololmbo Dockyard , Walkers Cololmbo Shipyard and Ex chairman Sri Lanka Land Reclamation Corporation බදු එකතු කිරීමෙන් ධනය නිර්මාණයට — ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට නව ආර්ථික දැක්මක්   Sri Lanka today appears trapped in a cycle where governments focus heavily on tax collection to stabilize the economy. While fiscal discipline is necessary, excessive […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera What is name of that film ? AI gives me following answer  Yes — the Sinhala film Dharmayuddhaya is officially a remake of the Indian Malayalam blockbuster Drishyam starring Mohanlal. The Sinhala version starred Jackson Anthony in the lead role.   Many viewers felt it was very close to the original — […]