Features

Garuwa tells us how he lost his arm to a bear and more tales from Kumana

Published

5 years ago

2022/01/16

Sahan Weerasooriya

(Continued from last week)

by Walter R. Gooneratne

Now it was story-time. Unlike the garrulous Wasthua, Garuwa was a quiet and retiring person and a man of few words. However, under the influence of that extra quota of alcohol, his tongue loosened up and he related his adventure with the bear which ultimately ended with the amputation of his left arm.

One evening, while returning from the tank, a she bear had joined the track about a hundred yards ahead of him. Since the bear was up-wind of him, he did not bother very much as he knew the animal would leave the track sooner or later. Anyway, he was sufficiently in the lead to take evasive action should it decide to turn back. He had met many a bear before and had not much respect for its sagacity or intelligence. Suddenly, there was a loud growl behind him, when a huge male bear standing on its hind legs charged into him with mouth open and fangs bared. He had put up his forearm to defend his face and yelled at it as loud as he could. However, this had very little effect, for the bear had bitten his forearm. He remembered with a shudder the awful stench of its breath.

The bear had probably spotted the female which was in heat, and he had followed her scent. Perhaps he mistook Garuwa for a rival and attacked him, but when he realized his mistake he had left him alone and gone after his lover. Garuwa was now bleeding profusely. He had taken off his shirt and bandaged his injured forearm with it. By the time he reached the main track to the village, he had felt quite dizzy with the loss of blood and the throbbing pain, which made him sit down.

Fortunately, some people were returning to the village from Yakala Kalapuwa and they carried him home. He was delirious and semi-conscious throughout the night and was not aware of the damage to his arm. The next morning, his friends had made an improvised stretcher and carried him to Panama, from where he was transferred to the Batticaloa Hospital, where his arm was amputated. That part of the journey had been plain hell, specially the bumpy ride.

Early next morning we broke camp, and having rewarded our new-found friends, bade them adieu. While returning to Kandy, I was driving most of the day, and therefore shortly after passing Polonnaruwa, Ivor offered to take the wheel. Then a short while later, Ivor had dozed off and in consequence the jeep ran off the road. Fortunately, it was flat open country and Ivor managed to stop it in time. The ladies insisted that I drive the rest of the way. We landed in Kandy late at night without further incident.

Kumana again and again

Since then I have been to Kumana seven times more. As it would be too long to describe all of these journeys in detail, I shall describe only the highlights of each.

On the next trip our party consisted of Dr H R Wickremesinghe, Mr. and Mrs.Simon Gunewardene, my wife, Nirmalene and myself. We left Ragama (where I was stationed then) at 3 am in Simon’s jeep and reached the office of the Wildlife Department at Okanda at about 2 pm. There, for the first time I saw the neat cup-shaped nest of the fantailed flycatcher. Our old faithfuls, Garuwa and Wasthuwa were waiting for us and we did not waste any time, but drove on to the Kumbukan Oya camp-site.

It was dry season and the river was low. A lone elephant was quenching his thirst at this spot, but fortunately ran away at our approach. Late that night another elephant had come to drink, and being disturbed by our campfire, had created quite a rumpus, but had moved away due to Wasthua’s charms, as he claimed. Having driven the whole day, I was dead to the world and had slept through all the noise.

Leopard pugmarks were everywhere. That evening Simon shot a spotted deer stag near Yakala Kalapuwa. The two hind limbs were cut off and loaded into the jeep for our consumption. and the rest of the carcass was dragged to the spot where Ivor shot his leopard. It was tethered there as leopard bait. That evening. the leopard came to the bait and was shot by Simon. When I saw what we had done to such a graceful and beautiful creation of nature, just to bolster man’s pride, I decided never to shoot a leopard again.

The highlight of the trip took place that afternoon. We decided to have our evening bath at Galamuna, higher up the river. Here the water cascading down the mini-rapid was most soothing and relaxing. A short while later, a lone cow elephant came silently out of the jungle, just about twenty yards above where we were. She stood there for a while, testing the air for signs of danger, and as if by an invisible signal that all was well, a herd of elephants trooped down to the river. There were eighteen of them of various sizes and ages. All of them were females, except for two young males.

There were two little babies, one of which could not have been more than two or three years of age. The old matriarch, who first came to the river, was apparently its mother, as she nestled it between her legs and walked down to the river. Garuwa assured us that as we were downwind of them. there was no danger as long as we stayed quiet and did not move about too much. It was such a heartwarming and wonderful sight. The creatures soon lay down in the cool, rushing water and showered themselves with fountains of water, while the babies frolicked about under the watchful eye of their mothers and aunts.

Suddenly two of the teenagers decided to play “catch me if you can” and one of them made a dash in our direction, hotly pursued by her playmate. However, much to our relief, they soon wheeled around and dashed away in the opposite direction. Having had enough, they entwined their trunks, whispered a few sweet nothings in each other’s ears and again settled down to the mundane business of cleansing themselves. After about twenty minutes, the matriarch stood up, scented the wind and slowly re-entered the jungle, followed by the rest of the herd.

Angler’s dream

The next visit was about a year later in the company of Dr. Mackie Ratwatte, Dr. Anian Perera and his nephew, who later became a Catholic priest. Game Ranger Peter Jayawardene accompanied us as our guest in camp.

This trip was an angler’s dream. Peter being a keen and expert angler, we decided to go fishing in the estuary of Kumbukkan Oya. Peter made his own lures. It was mainly because he could not afford to buy commercial ones, but pretended his were superior. He was soon proved to be correct. Peter produced a handcrafted lure painted in red and white, which he called the” Red devil”.

Anian had no experience of angling, and when he saw our equipment, he laughed at us saying that we would be sadly mistaken if we thought fish would fall for our artificial lures. Soon he would think otherwise.

The sky was overcast and there was a slight blowing. I cast the “Red devil” and at the second cast had a strike. Anian scornfully said I had snagged a rock. However, the “rock” soon peeled off the line from my reel, an event which soon provoked a paean of delight. At the first pull, the fish had emptied a good part of my well-oiled reel before he stopped for a breather. Soon the line was being stripped off again in brief runs. I dared not put too much break as I was using light line. Expert Peter predicted that I had something very big, and by the initial run, it should be a paraw or travelly. The duel continued for some time with me retrieving some line, interrupted by short bursts of activity by my adversary. Then we saw him framed against a breaker, a huge tholbari paraw swaying his broad shoulders in order to dislodge the lure. After further fights, he came in gamely, being finally carried ashore by a low wave. It was massive and weighed forty four pounds!

Since the fish were still feeding, we continued to cast. With almost every cast we had a strike. The final catch was an eight pound koduwa or estuary perch and seven of kalava or threadfin, each weighing between four and eight pounds.

Anian, who scoffed at us at the beginning, wanted me to allow him a few casts. I warned him that bait-casting needed a lot of skill and practice, but he assured me that having watched me, he knew the technique. I knew that he would end up in a backlash, but to humour him I gave him the rod and reel. Anyway, Peter was an expert at unraveling the toughest backlashes. With the first cast, he ended up with the mother of all backlashes. Even Peter’s expertise was to no avail. Anian was most apologetic.

However, as we had enough fish we called it a day. Back in camp, we had to dismantle the reel to untangle the mess. Garuwa and Wasthua were gifted a kalai each to take to their families. That night we had a delicious curry of the paraw and koduwa heads turned out by Kadisara. The rest of the fish was with Peter’s expertise, either dried or made into jadi, which was a preparation cured with salt. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

Kumana in the rain

The next foray was in 1966. It was a huge party consisting of Simon Gunewardene and wife, my dear friends, Dr. and Mrs Chandra Amerasinghe and their children, Pervey Lawrence, my nephew Mohan Gooneratne, my brother Lionel and my family. There was torrential rain all the way and we were benighted at Lahugala. Fortunately, Peter had been transferred as game ranger there and he managed to find accommodation for us in the village school.

Next morning the road to Kumana was a quagmire. Bagura Ara, the stream that runs across Bagura plains, was in spate and we managed to cross it with some difficulty. Fortunately, Dr. K.G. Jayasekera and his party were camping at Bagura and they lent a hand to get the vehicles across. That night the rain came down again in sheets, accompanied by lightning and thunder. The water came through the camp in roaring torrents. Sleep was impossible. My wife carried the children into our jeep, while most of the others just shivered till dawn, by which time the rain had ceased.

Most of the next day was spent drying up the camp. Fortunately there was no further rain for the rest of our stay. In the evening we went down to the villu for bird watching. We met a large leopard close to the villu, but it took fright and bolted away. That evening, Lyn de Alwis and his party arrived and camped at the site higher up on the banks of Kumbukkan Oya. He very kindly invited us to his camp for cocktails.

Next morning Garuwa suggested that we go to Lenama in search of rathu walasu or red bears. On the way, Wasthua suggested that we inspect a water-hole called Kiri Pokuna, as it was a favourite watering place for many wild animals. The track was narrow, and having alighted from the vehicles, we walked along it in single file. Pervey went ahead with the trackers, while the others trailed behind. Chandra and I brought up the rear. Suddenly there was pandemonium and the whole crowd came running back, followed shortly after by the report from Pervey’s rifle. It transpired that as the crowd approached the bund of the water-hole, a huge wild buffalo had come crashing down over the bund along the path they were on.

At Pervy’s shot (fired into the air), the animal had veered to the left and crashed into the jungle. What probably had happened was that on hearing of our approach, the animal had tried to escape along the path he was familiar with and almost collided with us, but was turned away by the noise of Pervy’s rifle fire. Further progress to Lenama was impossible due to the state of the track after the recent rains.

That evening we went fishing to the estuary of Kumbukan Oya. Dr. Jayasekera and his party were also there, but none of us had any luck, due mainly to the river being in spate. However, we were rewarded with the spectacle of a brilliantly coloured sunset.

Further trips to Kumana

Some time later my cousin Lyn de Alwis very kindly invited me to join him on an expedition to Kumana in order to capture animals for the zoo. The team included some staff of the zoo, as well as Lyn’s brother Gerald, and my son Naomal. We camped again by Kumbukkan Oya, but our old trackers, Garuwa and Wasthua had by that time passed away and we sorely missed them.

It was nesting season in the villu and most of the time was spent capturing viable, but fledgling birds. They were mostly painted stork, spoonbills, openbills, spot-billed pelicans, cormorants and whistling teal. A large number of serpents, including pythons, Russell’s vipers and cobras, was also taken with amazing ease and dexterity by the staff of the zoo.

In the next two visits, we occupied the bungalow, which was on a most beautiful location overlooking a small lake. On the first occasion, we had booked the Okanda bungalow, but the trees around it were alive with numerous hairy caterpillars. However Lyn de Alwis, who was occupying the Thunmulla bungalow, very kindly offered it to us, and decided to camp out on the bank of Kumbukkan Oya.

The highlight of this trip was a furious elephant charge. At the time my wife, after collecting driftwood on the beach for her flower arrangements near Iticala Kalapuwa, had just got into the jeep, when a huge lone elephant made a furious charge from a nearby thicket. My son Romesh, who was at the wheel, was about to start off, but hearing the charge, he had the presence of mind to switch off the engine. The three of us, namely Romesh, the tracker and myself yelled at it in unison. The charge was so determined that I thought he would not be able to stop in time. However, he skidded to a stop within a few feet of us and walked away, grumbling all the while. Had we delayed a few more minutes in switching off the engine, he would have been on us with disastrous results.

However we were rewarded that evening with the sight of a large healthy leopard traversing the road behind the bungalow. It looked contemptuously at us over its shoulder and continued to walk along the track till it was out of sight round the bend of the road. We let it go its way in peace.

The next trip was in 1983, shortly after the riots. Our party consisted of Mr. John Guyer of the Asia Foundation and his wife, Mr. Fred Malvenna, my son Romesh and myself. We left Colombo at midnight in Fred’s jeep and arrived at Pottuvil at early dawn. On this occasion too we occupied the Thummulla bungalow. The villu was completely dry with crazy zigzag cracks on its surface. A lone elephant was in it, knee deep in mud, feeding on the dried up lotus leaves and yams.

In this trip none was interested in hunting, but we made many forays into the jungle to watch and observe animals. Though no leopards were seen, their tracks were everywhere. Several elephants, in singles, twos and threes, were seen. Large herds of spotted deer were a common sight. While bathing in Kumbukkan Oya at Galamuna one morning, we saw two saw-toothed sharks, each about three feet long, cruising in the river above the rocky dam.

On December 27, 2002, we made a trip again to Kumana. It was a large party traveling in four vehicles. To Chris Uragoda and a few of us who had seen Kumana in its heyday, the desolation and destruction were saddening indeed. There were hardly any tracks. Bagura plain was bare and devoid of its once famous herds of deer. Gone were all the life-giving mangroves in the villu, which was a naked sheet of water without a bird to adorn its shining surface. There was evidence of felling of trees at many places. It is imperative that the Department of Wildlife Conservation should take immediate steps to bring it back to its former splendour before it is lost forever.

(Concluded)

(Excerpted from Jungle Journeys in Sri Lanka edited by CG Uragoda)

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Features

Defend civic space upon which peace is built

Published

12 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

by Jehan Perera

International Peace Day was observed on 21 September. It finds Sri Lanka with a genuine achievement to record and a demanding test to meet. The UN’s theme this year was “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.” It also honoured the “everyday architects of peace”—people driving local action and building a lasting peace from the ground up. In the 2026 Global Peace Index, Sri Lanka rose 30 places, from 97th to 67th among 163 countries. Over the same period, global peacefulness declined for the twelfth consecutive year to its lowest level since the index began, and South Asia suffered the sharpest regional deterioration. The test is whether the government will protect the civic space in which those architects of peace work.

Sri Lanka’s improvement is real and deserves acknowledgement. In this year’s review, issued a few weeks ago, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged progress in the form of action against corruption, arrests and investigations linked to political killings, enforced disappearances and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, and continued official denunciation of racism. A ranking, however, records conditions at a particular moment. It does not guarantee that they will last. Sustainable peace will depend on three factors. These are whether the government addresses the unresolved causes of conflict, whether it strengthens accountability for past and present abuses, and whether it protects the civic space in which peace is built from below. On the first two the record is incomplete. On the third, the draft NGO law threatens to weaken the very organisations that press for the other two.

What holds Sri Lanka back from a higher place are the same things that fed the war at home and also feed international conflict that rages elsewhere in the world. These are racism or ethnic nationalism that is narrow-focused, corruption and lawlessness. Equality, accountability and the rule of law are their remedies. The present government has committed itself to these, and is a significant improvement over governments of the recent past. But these pillars are not held up by governments alone. Peace is made in villages, workplaces and university campuses. It is made by families who insist on the truth about their disappeared, by journalists and lawyers who expose abuse, and by community organisations that bring Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese into practical cooperation.

Unfinished Work

The UN High Commissioner’s report to the current Human Rights Council session, covering October 2025 to July 2026, shows how much remains to be done. The Prevention of Terrorism Act is still being applied, producing arbitrary arrests and long detention without charge. The report calls for a moratorium pending repeal and for the release of long-term detainees. Military-occupied land has not been released, memorialisation lacks support, and tensions over land and religious sites persist. The Batticaloa district illustrates how such problems endure. In the past three years, two Presidents, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have visited and instructed that the dispute over grazing land in Mailaththamadu and Mathavanai be resolved. It is a dispute between Tamil cattle farmers and outside Sinhala cultivators, and it has not been resolved. When two Presidents issue instructions and nothing changes, the fault lies in the machinery of State. An unresolved dispute does not stand still. It hardens into the next grievance.

Accountability shows the same pattern. The report documents torture and deaths in custody, and surveillance and intimidation of activists, journalists and civil society. Serious cases remain stalled for years, among them the killing of seventeen aid workers of Action Contre la Faim in Muttur two decades ago. Sharper still is the case of the Eastern University refugee camp at Vantharamoolai, where in 1990 the army took away 158 persons in a single day. They were never seen again. The camp’s officer-in-charge, Dr T. Jayasingam, later Vice Chancellor of the university, identified the officers responsible. More than three decades on, those officers have not been questioned. These cases are still remembered because families, survivors and independent witnesses have refused to let them be forgotten. Meanwhile several commissions of inquiry have completed their investigations but nothing further has happened.

What South Africa, Argentina and other post-conflict societies have found indispensable are four pillars of what is called “Transitional Justice” which are truth, accountability, reparations and non-recurrence. In Sri Lanka’s circumstances, truth means credible, independent investigation of what happened to the disappeared, and support for memorialisation. Accountability means prosecuting Muttur, Vantharamoolai and comparable cases, and removing credibly accused persons from senior office. Reparations mean compensation for victims and the return of military-held land. Non-recurrence means repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act, releasing those held under it in the meantime, and resolving local disputes such as Mailaththamadu before delay hardens them. A country that buries its past does not escape it. The past returns in the next generation.

Civil Society

It is against this background that the draft NGO law is most troubling. The proposed legislation contains sweeping provisions for State oversight and control of civil society organisations. Among these are enforcing a licensing requirement on NGOs, which is to be renewed every three years, and severe penalties for not submitting reports on time, or for spending on emergency flood relief (for instance) when the NGOs mandate is peacebuilding (as an example) with possible sanctions including deregistration and having to shut down. Civil society groups have warned that it would confer excessive discretion over their registration and operations. Officials in Sri Lanka have abused such powers in the past. Additional power without effective checks invites further abuse. Sound regulation would have clear criteria for registration, an independent registrar and a right of appeal to the courts. What cannot be justified is a regime in which registration becomes a licence to be withheld from organisations that scrutinise policy, expose abuses or advocate for the rights of citizens.

Democracy is based on checks and balances. Those who press for accountability are part of those checks. The contradiction is plain. A government that has pledged accountability, equality and the rule of law ought not to be preparing to weaken the very organisations that press for their fulfilment. The organisations most exposed are those working on disappearances, land, memorialisation and reconciliation in the North and East, where the State’s record is weakest and the need for independent witnesses greatest. Silencing them would not remove the grievances they document. It would remove the channel through which those grievances are addressed peacefully. The government appears to be relenting, which is welcome, but a pause is not a withdrawal. The bill should be withdrawn and any replacement drafted in genuine consultation with those it would govern.

Investment in peace as called for by the UN in its International Peace Day theme implies commitment over time, with returns that come slowly. Sri Lanka’s 30-place rise on the Global Peace Index is a first dividend and nothing more. It can be built upon only if the government matches its commitments with action: withdrawing or fundamentally redrafting the NGO law, repealing or suspending the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and bringing Muttur, Vantharamoolai and Mailaththamadu to resolution. A higher place in a global index is not a certificate of success. Sri Lanka’s higher ranking is an encouraging start, but it will endure only if the space in which citizens speak, question and organise is protected. Peace is built from below, and a government that is serious about it will treat civil society as a partner rather than a threat.

Features

Africa is buying: Sri Lanka must start selling

Published

12 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

A call to Sri Lankan exporters and agencies: Can Sri Lanka compete with China and India in Africa?

By Kana V. Kananathan
Former Ambassador

Sri Lanka has spent decades concentrating its exports on traditional markets in Europe, North America and Asia. Yet across the Indian Ocean lies a rapidly expanding market that remains significantly underdeveloped by Sri Lankan exporters: Africa.

The opportunity is not theoretical. Sri Lanka already exports packaging, textiles, rubber products, pharmaceuticals, paper, machinery and electrical goods to African markets. The question is whether these modest beginnings can be transformed into a serious export strategy—and whether Sri Lanka can compete against the enormous commercial presence of China and India.

The answer is yes—but Sri Lanka must compete differently.

Kenya: Gateway to East Africa

Kenya should be the starting point.

Sri Lanka exported approximately US$32.08 million to Kenya in 2025, while importing US$11.41 million. But US$32 million is tiny compared with the opportunity: Kenya imported more than US$24 billion in 2025. Even a 1% share of that market would represent nearly US$240 million in annual exports.

And the commercial base already exists. Sri Lanka’s 2025 exports to Kenya included approximately US$9.99 million in paper and paperboard products, US$9.73 million in knitted fabrics, US$3.64 million in pharmaceuticals, US$1.24 million in rubber products and US$1.20 million in machinery.

Kenya’s import structure is equally revealing. In the third quarter of 2025, industrial supplies represented 34.4% of imports, machinery and capital equipment 19.2%, food and beverages 9.0%, and consumer goods 7.3%. The opportunity for Sri Lanka, therefore, extends well beyond consumer goods—we can become a supplier to African industry.

But competition is fierce. Asia supplied around 70% of Kenya’s imports in 2025, with imports from China rising 16.5% and those from India 11.3%.

Sri Lanka cannot challenge China and India across every product category. Nor should it try. We must target sectors where quality, specialisation, reliability, technical capability, smaller production runs and flexibility matter more than simply offering the lowest price.

Where Can Sri Lanka Compete?

Packaging is an obvious starting point. Cartons, boxes, bags and labels are already among Sri Lanka’s exports to Kenya. Importantly, some Sri Lankan companies operating in Kenya are themselves importing these products from Sri Lanka. The market already exists; the challenge is to scale it.

As Africa’s food-processing, pharmaceutical, apparel and consumer-goods industries expand, demand for sophisticated packaging will grow with them. Sri Lanka already possesses the manufacturing capability and industry experience to capture a larger share.

Industrial rubber products, tyres, gloves and specialised rubber components offer another opportunity where Sri Lanka has established manufacturing expertise.

The apparel supply chain is equally promising. Rather than competing directly with African garment factories, Sri Lanka can supply fabrics, elastics, labels, packaging and specialised textile inputs.

Some Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing and export companies already established in Kenya, Togo, Ghana and Ethiopia are importing several of these inputs from Sri Lanka. The supply chain, therefore, already exists. The next step is to move beyond supplying Sri Lankan-owned factories and become a competitive input supplier to the wider African apparel industry.

Other sectors deserving systematic market development include pharmaceuticals and medical consumables, processed foods, biscuits and confectionery, coconut products, cinnamon and spices, electrical products and cables, industrial chemicals, ceramics, light engineering, agricultural equipment and food-processing machinery.

Sri Lanka should also look beyond physical goods. IT, fintech, banking technology, engineering, healthcare, hospitality management and professional services largely escape the freight disadvantage confronting merchandise exports.

The Tariff Problem Can Become an Opportunity

Market access cannot be discussed without tariffs.The East African Community applies a Common External Tariff with bands of 0%, 10%, 25% and 35%, while certain sensitive products attract still higher protection. Simply filling containers in Colombo with finished consumer goods will therefore not always be commercially competitive.

But that obstacle points towards a bigger opportunity: manufacture in Africa.

Sri Lankan businesses could export intermediate materials while undertaking final assembly, manufacturing, processing or packaging in Kenya. Packaging companies could establish converting plants; electrical manufacturers could assemble locally; pharmaceutical companies could explore manufacturing or packaging partnerships; and food companies could undertake final processing closer to consumers.

Kenya would then become more than an export destination. It could become Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and distribution gateway into East and Central Africa.

With the East African Community now comprising eight partner states and extending geographically from the Indian Ocean towards the Atlantic, establishing a regional presence is increasingly more important than viewing each African country in isolation.

West Africa Cannot Be Ignored

Sri Lanka simultaneously needs a West African strategy.

Ghana offers potential as an English-speaking commercial gateway and host of the AfCFTA Secretariat. Nigeria, with its enormous population and consumer economy, should be approached as a major market in its own right, despite its greater regulatory, currency and operational complexity.

ECOWAS tariff bands of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 35% again make product selection critical. Sri Lanka should concentrate on products with sufficient differentiation and margins to absorb freight, tariffs and distributor costs.

Pharmaceuticals demonstrate both the opportunity and the challenge. Nigeria imported approximately US$766 million in pharmaceuticals in 2025, with India supplying roughly US$394 million and China US$131 million. Ghana imported approximately US$301 million, with India supplying about US$140 million.

Sri Lanka cannot simply offer another generic product and expect to beat India on price. We must identify specialised products, reliable supply arrangements, partnerships and, where commercially justified, local production or packaging.

Stop Promoting Sectors—Identify Products

Sri Lanka now needs an Africa Export Opportunity Study based on individual products, not broad sectors.

The Export Development Board, Foreign Ministry, chambers and private sector should jointly identify 15–20 priority products. For each product, Sri Lanka should calculate the HS code, African annual import demand, principal suppliers, Chinese and Indian market shares, applicable duties, freight from Colombo, regulatory requirements, distributor margins and final landed price.

That will tell us where Sri Lanka genuinely has a competitive advantage.

The Commercial Test

Before spending resources promoting a product, apply one simple test:

African import demand + Sri Lankan production capability + tariff + freight + distributor margin + regulatory cost = final landed competitiveness against China, India and local African production.

Only products that pass this test should receive concentrated export-promotion resources.

This would move Sri Lanka away from exhibitions, delegations and general discussions towards what ultimately matters: specific products, specific buyers, specific distributors and actual export orders.

Give Our Missions Targets

Commercial diplomacy must become results-driven. The Government should set clear annual trade and investment targets for every Sri Lankan mission in Africa.

Missions should be evaluated not merely on diplomatic activity, but on buyers and distributors identified, business introductions made, investments facilitated, market barriers resolved and measurable exports generated.

In a competitive Africa, our missions must become active economic frontlines not merely diplomatic outposts.

A practical strategy could operate through three commercial gateways: Nairobi for East and Central Africa, Accra for selected West African markets and Lagos for Nigeria.

Sri Lanka’s total exports of goods and services reached approximately US$17.25 billion in 2025. Capturing even a small additional share of Africa’s enormous import market could, therefore, make a meaningful contribution to export earnings, investment and foreign-exchange generation.

Africa Will Not Wait

Sri Lankan exporters must stop looking at Africa as a distant or difficult market and start treating it as a strategic growth market.

We cannot compete with China and India on scale, but we can compete on quality, specialisation, flexibility and reliability. Exporters must identify country-specific opportunities, establish strong local distributors, build partnerships with African businesses and use Sri Lankan companies already operating on the continent as gateways into regional supply chains.

Where freight and tariffs weaken competitiveness, businesses must be prepared to move towards local assembly, joint ventures and manufacturing in Africa. Exporters cannot do it alone. They need aggressive, measurable and results-driven commercial diplomacy from Sri Lanka’s missions.

Africa is buying. Its markets are being captured now. Sri Lanka must stop watching from the sidelines. We must enter, compete, build our presence and secure our share.

(Ambassador Kana Kananathan is a businessman, Diplomat, lobbyist and an expert in African affairs, with over four decades of experience on the African continent. A long-time resident of Africa, he served as Sri Lanka’s envoy to Uganda and Kenya, with concurrent accreditation to 22 African Nations, and was the permanent representative to UN Habitat and UN environmental Programme. Over the years, he has been the Elections Monitor across the continent, working closely with African governments, and built enduring partnerships with African leaders. He also served as Economic and Investments Advisor to former President Professor Alpha Condé of the Republic of Guinea)

Features

Memories and Midnight Magic: Recipe for a perfect 31st Night dance

Published

12 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

The heart of a great 31st Night dance is memory, and memories come rushing back when those 70s, 80s and 90s golden oldies begin to play — those timeless tunes that make revellers, young and old, rush to the floor and dance the night away.

A perfect 31st Night is not just a party. It is a journey. A journey through time.

The music should flow like a love story. Start slow, start soft. Let couples glide into a waltz for romance. Let the floor come alive with a twist, a rock ‘n’ roll, a jive. Let nostalgia build with beautiful sing-along oldies generally associated with a New Year’s Eve dance.

This is the art that many of our entertainers seem to have forgotten.

The final hour, before midnight, is sacred. It should be collective energy at its peak. The entire crowd, on the dance floor, linking arms, swaying together, singing, at the top of their voices, those sing-along favourites.

Yes, I’m referring to those immortal, nostalgic favourites that unite the world: ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ ‘When The Saints Go Marching In,’ ‘Roll Out The Barrel,’ ‘Celebration,’ ‘She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain,’ ‘Happy Days Are Here Again,’ and so many more.

One wonders if some of our modern entertainers have even heard of these nostalgia anthems that traditionally lead up to the dawning of the New Year! This is not just music; this is ritual.

Then comes THE moment: Lights dim. Music pauses. A hush falls. The countdown begins — 10, 9, 8… — hugs, wishes, tears of joy, and then … ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ Hands crossed, voices united, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. That moment makes or breaks the night.

Here is the truth that many genuine 31st Night revellers feel but hesitate to say — an overdose of baila music at New Year’s Eve events is NOT welcome.

Of course, baila is required. Baila is our Sri Lankan heartbeat! But a 31st Night dance is for everyone.

When it’s ONLY baila, the twist and rock n’ roll lovers, the waltz kings and queens feel left out. And they are the very people who MADE nostalgia! They are the die-hard revellers who have kept the 31st Night spirit alive for decades.

A family mentioned to me that they went along with friends for a 31st Night dance, in the city, to usher in 2026, and were thoroughly disappointed with the setup.

The bands in attendance, they said, failed to generate the excitement generally associated with a 31st Night event.

If given a free hand, the music at certain Colombo venues will be mostly baila, and that is going to disappoint many. Some are already worried that it will be just a baila scene this year, as well.

A memorable 31st Night respects all rhythms … yes, a waltz for romance, a twist and rock n’ roll for that 60s magic, a cha-cha, a slow foxtrot, and then the baila, after the countdown anthem.

That balance is what makes it inclusive, classy, and truly fun-filled.

Organisers, especially in Colombo, should keep this in mind: let it be 70% nostalgia – Western, and 30% baila, with the last hour left for pure baila madness, after the New Year is in!

Organisers must work out the programme for their 31st Night and instruct the entertainers to follow those instructions. The band should not dictate the night; the spirit of nostalgia should.

This New Year, let’s give Colombo what it truly wants — memories, midnight magic, and music for every soul on the floor.

Let’s dance into 2027 with class.