Business
Lanka’s famed beach shack battles demolition
The government gave Colombo beach restaurant Wadiya 10 days to pack up and leave — or face demolition
by Amal Jayasinghe
Pix by Ishara Kodikara
(AFP)Sri Lanka’s famed seafood shack Beach Wadiya has hosted royalty including Britain’s Princess Anne and sporting legends such as cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, but now faces demolition under a government-ordered coastal clean-up.
The simple Colombo beach restaurant has welcomed a string of celebrities, featured in Madhur Jaffrey’s culinary travels and received rave reviews in international publications, including London’s Financial Times.
“Beach Wadiya comes with a lot of history,” said Suhara Chandrasekera, the founder’s granddaughter, now a director of the restaurant.
But more than half a century after it opened, the glamour is giving way to grief at Wadiya — which means “shack” in the island’s Sinhala language.
The government’s Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department gave Wadiya 10 days to pack up and leave — or face demolition.
That deadline expired on September 10, but the restaurant is resisting the order to leave.
Seven other beach properties were given extensions of about four days to salvage furniture and fittings.
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- Co-owner Suhara Chandrasekera displaying a photo album of celebrities who visited Beach Wadiya shack in Colombo
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- A busser setting a table at Beach Wadiya shack.
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- This photograph taken on September 10, 2026 shows a busser setting a table at Beach Wadiya shack in Colombo
A few shops near Wadiya were demolished last month as part of a broader government plan to remove businesses within 10 metres (33 feet) of the shoreline.
“There shouldn’t be any buildings within the 10-metre coastal reservation from the shoreline,” Environment Minister Dammika Patabendi told AFP.
“We have identified 82 such premises and we are taking steps to remove them.”
Beach Wadiya is the only establishment resisting the order and has taken the matter to court.
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- People walk along Wellawatte Beach
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- This photograph taken on September 10, 2026 shows co-owner Suhara Chandrasekera displaying the signature of Britain’s Princess Anne in a guest book at Beach Wadiya shack in Colombo.
The family of its late founder, Olwyn Weerasekera, argues that the restaurant existed before the 1981 Coast Conservation Act being used to evict them.
“We built in 1974, which predates the law that they were talking about… We have permits dating all the way back to 1974,” 26-year-old Chandrasekera said.
“In addition to the appeal to the Coast Conservation Department, we also took the decision to file a writ,” she told AFP, referring to a case filed in the Court of Appeal.
The family has won a temporary reprieve, with the court ordering the department not to demolish the restaurant for two weeks pending a hearing.
When Wadiya was established, the beach was wider and cleaner, with rows of coconut trees, most of which have since been lost to sea erosion.
“Right now we have lost two of our huts… We’ve lost parts of our bathroom due to sea erosion,” Chandrasekera said.
She said Wadiya was the only restaurant on the beach before Sri Lanka’s tourism boom in the late 1970s.
Princess Anne had dinner at Wadiya in 1995. Nepali royals have also dined there.
British tycoon Richard Branson visited the restaurant during a family holiday in Sri Lanka in 1992, although the guestbook he signed was washed away in the December 2004 tsunami, according to the family.
Indian singing sensation Asha Bhosle, and cricket stars including India’s Rahul Dravid and former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram, have also dined there.
One of the restaurant’s walls has a reproduction of a Financial Times cartoon of a guitar-playing lobster that accompanied a March 1994 food review headlined: “Cook me tender.”
The restaurant is best known for offering diners a platter of fresh seafood from which they can choose how it should be cooked.
There is no air conditioning and small tables are set up on the beach. An upper floor was added as the beachfront shrank over the years.
Experts blame worsening erosion on large-scale land reclamation farther north near Colombo port.
If the courts allow the restaurant to survive the government’s coastal clean-up, Chandrasekera says Wadiya will return to its roots.
“The only restaurant on the strip,” she said.
By Ifham Nizam
Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Matthew Duckworth described Omega Traders’ latest investment in a modern dhal-processing facility as a strong example of how cross-border supply chains can translate into productive investment, local value addition and new business opportunities in Sri Lanka.
The investment, which adds a 150-metric-tonne-per-eight-hour-day processing capacity to Omega Traders’ operations, marks a significant expansion of the company’s manufacturing footprint as it celebrates 45 years in Sri Lanka’s food commodity industry.
Speaking at the inauguration of the new Lentil and Orid Dhal Processing Factory in Wattala, last Friday, H.C. Duckworth said the facility represented more than an increase in production capacity, pointing to the wider economic value created when Australian agricultural production is connected with Sri Lankan processing and distribution.
‘This facility is not operating on its own. It is part of a long supply chain and a trade partnership between Sri Lanka and Australia, Duckworth said.
His comments placed the Omega Traders’ investment within a broader commercial context: Australia brings agricultural production and established export capabilities, while Sri Lanka provides processing capacity, labour, market access and opportunities for further value addition.
The investment comes as Sri Lanka continues to look towards greater domestic processing and value-added manufacturing rather than relying solely on the import and distribution of finished commodities.
Dr. (Mrs.) Siddhika G. Senaratne, Director General/CEO of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI), who attended the inauguration as Guest of Honour, highlighted the importance of quality assurance in food processing and the role of standards in maintaining confidence across the supply chain.
The facility is equipped with new-generation cleaning, processing, sorting and quality-control machinery, including advanced colour-sorting technology, automated systems and an in-house quality-control laboratory.
The additional capacity will support Omega Traders’ three principal Mysoor Dhal brands — Rainbow Jumbo Dhal, Komas Dhal and Rozanna Dhal — which serve different segments of the Sri Lankan market.
But the investment also has a distinctly local agricultural dimension.
Through its Orid Dhal operation, Omega Traders plans to source locally grown black matpe from Sri Lankan farmers and process it at the new facility.
That creates a domestic value chain linking farmers to industrial processing and consumers, while potentially increasing demand for locally produced agricultural commodities.
Duckworth said this type of business partnership could generate benefits for both countries.
‘Australia produces some of the world’s best agricultural products and we are very efficient and very capable at trading them. But that alone is not going to bring success to Australia. Just as building a factory like this is not going to bring success to Sri Lanka, he said.
‘It’s when we bring these entities together that our products produced in Australia can be processed in excellence here in Sri Lanka that enables this to be a success, the H.C. explained.
The investment therefore combines two complementary supply streams: imported agricultural commodities, including Australian-origin products, and locally produced black matpe for the Orid Dhal operation.
For Sri Lanka, the business significance extends beyond Omega Traders itself. Increased processing capacity creates demand for logistics, packaging, distribution, services and agricultural inputs, while supporting employment within the food-processing ecosystem.
HR-led transformation places people, culture and business performance at the heart of the organisation
Ideal Motors (Pvt) Ltd,has achieved a significant milestone by securing multiple prestigious workplace and organisational culture accolades in 2026, reinforcing its position as an employer of choice in Sri Lanka’s automotive sector.
Among its latest achievements, Ideal Motors has been recognised as one of the 20 Great Workplaces for Young Talent in Sri Lanka 2026, ranked No. 1 and awarded the Gold Medal in the Small and Medium category of Best Workplaces™ in Sri Lanka 2026, and ranked No. 18 among Best Workplaces™ in Asia in the Medium Scale category—the highest-ranked Sri Lankan organisation in the category. The company also received Industry Excellence for Workplace Culture – Trading Industry.
The Young Talent recognition was presented at the Great Place To Work® CXO Forum 2026 held on 10 September 2026 at Cinnamon Life, Colombo. The recognition followed an evaluation of more than 100 certified organisations and highlights workplaces that create meaningful opportunities for employees under 35 to develop, contribute and grow.
At the Best Workplaces™ in Sri Lanka Awards Gala 2026, held on 11 September 2026 at Cinnamon Life, Colombo, Ideal Motors achieved another historic milestone by entering the Best Workplaces Sri Lanka list for the first time and securing the No. 1 Gold Medal in the Small and Medium category. The company also achieved No. 18 in Best Workplaces™ in Asia, reflecting the strength of its workplace culture beyond Sri Lanka.
These achievements represent more than a collection of awards. They reflect the transformation taking place within Ideal Motors, where people, culture and business performance are increasingly viewed as interconnected drivers of sustainable growth.
Over the past few years, the organisation’s HR function has evolved from a predominantly administrative role into a strategic business partner, with greater emphasis on employee experience, capability development, engagement, performance, communication, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, and data-driven HR practices.
The Automobile Association of Ceylon (AAC) conducted a seat belt safety awareness programme in front of its headquarters and along Galle Face Centre Road, encouraging motorists and passengers to make seat belt use a habit on every journey.
AAC staff, working alongside officers of the Sri Lanka Police Traffic Division, distributed specially designed hanging tags and stickers to drivers. The material carries a clear reminder that seat belts protect drivers as well as passengers in both the front and rear seats.
The public awareness drive was held ahead of the requirement taking effect on 20 September 2026, under which seat belt use becomes mandatory for every occupant of a vehicle travelling on an expressway.
AAC emphasized that the regulation should be understood as a life-saving measure rather than only a legal obligation. Wearing a seat belt can help prevent occupants from being thrown inside or from a vehicle during a collision and can lessen the severity of injuries.
The Association said road safety legislation must be supported by sustained public education, visible enforcement and responsible behaviour by all road users. The participation of the Traffic Police helped the campaign reach motorists directly in a busy part of central Colombo.
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