Features

Matters COPE overlooked

Published

6 years ago

2020/11/30

Sahan Weerasooriya

Norochcholai coal-fired power plant probe:

By Dr Janaka Ratnasiri

The Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has said at a meeting of COPE, held on Tuesday, (24th) in Parliament, that the entire country is affected by the Norochcholai coal power plant (CPP). This was reported in several print media, including The Island of 26.11.2020. He has further said that the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) must also be involved in assessing its impacts as issues created by the power plant, for example air pollution, has an impact on the entire country, without leaving it in the hands of the Environmental Authority of the Provincial Council of the North Western Province (NWP) alone.

FLY ASH FROM COAL POWER PLANTS

The three CPPs at Norochcholai were burning a little over 2 Mt of coal, annually, during 2016 – 2019, as reported in the CEB Annual Statistical Digests. Assuming that the ash content, in coal, is 16%, which is the maximum permissible limit, the three CPPs generate about 300,000 t of ash, annually. Out of this, about 20% is collected at the bottom as bottom ash and the rest is directed into the stacks. After getting filtered in the stack, the balance is released into the atmosphere as fly ash. Therefore, over the life time of a CPP, they jointly will release over 8 Mt of fly ash.

The Chairman has said that about 6.58 Mt of fly-ash is already stored in the premises. He also said that LKR 26 million was spent annually to spray water on the fly-ash to prevent their dispersion. In response to many complaints received from the public of loss of livelihood among farmers and fishermen, due to deposition of ash on agriculture land and sea, the CEB is planning to construct a wind barrier 1,200 m long and 15 m high to prevent wind blowing away the fly ash into neighbouring areas, at a cost of Rs. 724 million, which was approved by the Cabinet on 19.01.2018. There have been complaints from the CEB staff, at the plant site itself, of increased respiratory ailments among them due to high levels of air pollution within the premises. A public-interest organization has, in fact, filed a law suit against the CEB, demanding measures to be taken to reduce pollution by the CPP.

Coal ash is said to contain many toxic heavy metals, such as mercury, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, zinc as well as radio-active material, according to overseas literature. With nearly a decade of existence, the CEB has not made any effort to get the coal and ash analyzed to find out the actual amounts of these toxic metals present in them and how they depend on the source of coal. Adequate analytical facilities are available in the country for this purpose. What is lacking is a drive.

MERCURY IN FLY ASH

In view of the heavy mercury pollution caused by an industry which had released mercury compounds into the Bay of Minamata in Japan many years ago, and the subsequent adverse impacts it caused on the health of people who consumed fish caught from the Bay, the Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted in October 2013 and entered into force on the 16th August 2017, with a view to phase out Mercury emissions world-wide. It is interesting to note that it had taken over 10 years for the UN to take this preventive measure since first detection of neurological diseases among the affected people. Sri Lanka is a Party to this Convention and is therefore obliged to comply with it. The Parties agreed to collect data on the prevalence of Mercury in their countries and its impacts, to begin with.

In response, a local study was undertaken within the fishing community in Puttalam. The study revealed the presence of high levels of Mercury in women’s hair, attributed to regular consumption of fish containing high concentrations of Mercury (Sri Lanka J. Aquat. Sci. 23(2) (2018): 179-186) released by the CPP. Among the harmful effects that can be passed from the mother to the foetus include neurological impairment, IQ loss, and damage to the kidneys and cardiovascular system. At high levels of mercury exposure this can lead to brain damage, mental retardation, blindness, seizures and the inability to speak.

Another global study undertaken for the same purpose, found that in Puttalam, the Mercury content in the hair of women living near the lagoon was significantly elevated, with a mean of 2.74ppm ± 2.8ppm. Of great concern is that 50% of the women had a level that exceeded 2 ppm Hg and 13% exceeded 4 ppm Hg. “Of all women who participated in the sampling, 77% had a body burden of mercury exceeding the 1ppm reference level”. (https://ipen.org/sites/default/files/documents/ipen-mercury-sids-v1_5-en-web.pdf). Regrettably, the COPE members appeared to be unaware of this problem, even though it was given publicity in local media recently.

MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS FROM COAL ASH

The COPE has, however, shown concern about the accumulation of high volume of ash at the CPP. CEB officials have responded by saying that efforts are being made to use coal ash in the manufacture of bricks and the matter had ended there. What the CEB officials did not tell the COPE was that bricks are already being manufactured and used in construction work. For example, the headquarters building of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) was constructed recently using these bricks. See http://www.ft.lk/columns/Built-from-ash-A-building-that-houses-Sri-Lankan-science-speaks-silently/4-703849.

The question is how safe is coal fly ash for the manufacture of bricks used in the construction of dwellings. The reason is because fly ash contains high amounts of radioactive nuclides which can get distributed country-wide if bricks are made out of coal ash. In a study undertaken by the Nuclear Science Department of the Colombo University, coal and ash sampled from the Norochcholai plant were found to contain radionuclides of Uranium, Thorium and Potassium, according to a paper presented at the Annual Session of SLAAS in 2013. The radio-activity of these substances is given in the Table, according to which coal from South Africa was found to contain Uranium and Thorium levels significantly above the global averages.

It is desirable if the CEB, therefore, undertakes two studies before they start manufacturing these bricks on a large scale. One is to determine the concentrations of radio-active nuclides present in coal and coal ash, with samples originating from different countries. The second is to carry out a survey on the ambient radio activity in buildings constructed with bricks manufactured from fly ash. The CEB could outsource these studies to institutions generally undertaking such assignments. It is important that the findings of these studies are made public.

DISPERSION OF EMISSIONS FROM COAL POWER PLANTS

The COPE Chairman has said at the COPE meeting that air pollution from the Norochcholai CPP has an impact on the entire country. In a CPP, various gaseous emissions, such as Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter (PM) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) are generated during combustion of coal. These are first sent through filters to capture the excessive amounts of SO2 and PM and the balance released into air. The captured particulate matter is stored as fly ash. This filtering equipment fitted in the stacks include a Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) unit to reduce SO2 emissions and Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) or Fabric Filters to reduce PM emissions. However, they can reduce only a certain fraction of emissions and their efficiency declines with time, particularly under coastal environments. It is also reported that these pieces of equipment sometimes breakdown resulting in the entire pollutants generated getting released into air.

The emissions released into the atmosphere get dispersed within the airshed covering the North Western and North Central Provinces, the extent and quantity depending on the wind pattern which varies hourly, daily and seasonally. During the SE monsoon period, prevailing winds blow interior and the possibility

of emissions reaching the Western and Eastern Provinces cannot be ruled out. These emissions, after getting transported over a certain distance depending on the wind regime, get deposited back on the ground adding to their concentration at ground level generally referred to as the Ambient Air Quality (AAQ).

EMISSION STANDARDS AND MONITORING

The CEA has published Regulations in the Gazette announcing stack emission standards (SES) for power plants and also on AAQ standards. In respect of stack emissions, the regulations say that “any person who fails to comply with the above regulations, shall be liable to an offence under the National Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980”.

The Regulations on SES were published in the Gazette Notification dated 05.06.2019 specifying maximum permissible levels of SO2, NO2, PM and smoke. These values are given in the SES in units of mg/Nm3 (Normal cubic metres). Their conversion in to other useful forms such as parts per million (ppm) or mg/GJ or mg/kWh needs certain assumptions to be made on the fuel quality and plant efficiency. The CEB claims that they monitor the stack emissions on all pollutants regularly using remotely operated sensors but this information is not made public.

The Regulations on AAQ Standards were published in the Gazette Notification, dated 15.08.2008, specifying maximum permissible concentrations of several pollutants including Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), SO2, NO2, PM2.5 and PM10 present in ambient air. The last two refer to particulates with diameter 2.5 micro metres and 10 micro metres, respectively. The measurements are to be averaged over periods of 1 hour, 8 hours and 24 hours and carried out according to methods specified in the Regulations.

According to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the original CPP project, at least two permanent AAQ monitoring stations need to be installed in Puttalam area, and data displayed in public places. The writer believes this has not been done. The CEB has assigned a contract to the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) in 2018 to monitor AAQ around Puttalam using ITI’s new mobile facility. ITI had done the AAQ measurements covering all seasons (Personal communication), but the data is not available in public domain, despite the condition laid down in the EIA. The COPE Chairman should have inquired as to whether the CPP complies with these two sets of standards, SES and AAQ and if not, the reasons.

AUTHORIY FOR PROJECT APPROVAL

The COPE Chairman also has directed the CEA to get involved in overseeing the operation of the Norochcholai CPP without leaving it in the hands of the Environment Authority of NWPC. This Authority has wide powers according to its statute, according to which all prescribed projects that are being undertaken in the NWP by any Government or private institution or an individual will be required to obtain approval under this Statute for such prescribed projects. It is noteworthy that out of all Provincial Councils, only the NW Provincial Council has established its own Environmental Authority.

In the event the Minister assigns a different project approving agency, such agency will have to grant approval for a project only with the concurrence of the Provincial Authority. Hence, it is a question whether NWP Environment Authority (EA) will listen to CEA, because it is not bound to do it according to its statute. The CEB Chairman has said at the COPE meeting that the EIA study for the new CPP would be done jointly by CEA and EA of NWP. Actually, there is no need to spend millions of Rupees on EIA studies when it is obvious that a CPP causes heavy pollution while clean alternative options are available.

What generally happens in an EIA is that various measures are pledged to minimize impacts on which the EIA is approved, but there is no guarantee the pledges are kept once the project is implemented. Sometimes, projects are given approval subject to certain conditions, but these conditions are not published, which tantamount to giving an open approval. What is important is to select projects that do not intrinsically generate pollution.

One would expect such a powerful body like EA of NCP to maintain a website giving information on projects being considered by the Authority, projects that have been granted approval. Also, in the case of Norochcholai CPP, the environment data being collected by the CPP should also need to be posted in the website for the information of the public. But the Writer found no such site when searched in the Google. The data are not even posted in the CEB website which posts all other data such as generation and sales data promptly in its website.

CEB’S FUTURE PLANS FOR POWER GENERATION

The Cabinet, on 22.01.2020, granted approval for the construction of two 300 MW CPPs as an extension to the existing CPP at Norochcholai, together with construction of two 300 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants operating with natural gas, one jointly by CEB and India/Japan, and the other with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The CEB Chairman, however, confirmed only the construction of two CPPs at the COPE meeting and not the construction of two 300 MW gas power plants already approved by the Cabinet. He said that according to the long-term plan of the Norochcholai CPP, a 300 MW (coal) plant was to be added to the complex by 2023 and a further 300 MW (coal) plant by 2026. According to the CEB Draft Plan for 2020-39, two more 300 MW CPPs are to be built within this decade.

Though the Cabinet had granted approval for building CPPs in January, later the Cabinet granted approval again for including the first CPP as a project to be carried out urgently as a post-COVID activity. This means that the CPP could be selected and purchased without going through the normal procurement procedure, despite the fact that the cost of a 300 MW CPP could exceed LKR 80 billion. Naturally, everyone is eyeing to take control of this purchase because of the many benefits amounting to millions if not billions of Rupees that would get transacted. Building a CPP has no relation to COVID for it to be included as a post-COVID activity. It is only an unethical way of circumventing the tender procedure. It is surprising why the learned COPE members did not see through this unethical practice and question the CEB Chairman.

Gas power plants (GPP) are also included in the CEB’s latest long-term plan for 2020-39, meaning they are acceptable as low-cost options to be added to the grid. In addition to the two-gas fired 300 MW GPPs approved by the Cabinet at the January meeting, the Cabinet has earlier granted approval for building a 300 MW GPP on BOOT basis at Kerawalapitiya by Lakdhanavi for which proposals were called in 2016 November and the award finalized now.

According to media reports, however, the Attorney General’s Department is trying to hold it back citing some shortcomings in the tender documents issued 4 years ago, but the Minister of Power wants to pursue it despite AG’s objections. Had this tender evaluated within a year as indicated in the tender documents without CEB dragging it for 4 years, the country would have had the benefit of a 300 MW of clean energy supply by now. The COPE should have inquired about this long delay from the CEB.

PROBLEMS ASOCIATED WITH COAL POWER PLANTS

A CPP is more complex than a CCGT plant and requires several days of waiting for a plant to be energized after an unannounced shut down, whereas a CCGT Plant could be energized within a matter of a few hours. The CEB still depends on Chinese technicians to maintain and operate the Norochcholai CPP even after a decade of its operation. A CPP can function only as a base-load plant whereas a CCGT Plant can function both as a base-load and a peak-load plant. This is another matter that COPE members overlooked.

A CCGT Plant is more compatible for operation with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power plants with fluctuating outputs than a CPP which cannot respond to such fluctuating supplies. Unlike a CPP, a GPP does not generate even a gram of ash, any SO2 and no particulates. Even the NO2 generated and warm water released from a GPP are much less that that from a CPP.

It is surprising therefore that none of the leaned members of COPE questioned the CEB Chairman, why CEB wants to pursue building more coal power plants when they cause so much pollution as described earlier and pose problems in operation and maintenance in preference to a natural gas power plant which does not cause any such pollution and easier to operate. Currently, there are three CCGT Plants being operated and maintained by Sri Lankans for decades. Obviously, the COPE members appeared to have not done their homework before coming to the meeting.

The other important aspect of a GPP is that CO2 emitted by a GPP is only about half that of CO2 emitted by a similar capacity CPP. Hence, shifting from coal power to gas power is an acceptable means of mitigating carbon emissions as quired under the Paris Agreement. In a paper the Writer submitted to the 2019 National Energy Symposium, he showed that by shifting from CEB’s coal power-based Base Case Plan for 2015-34 to a no-coal case given in the 2018-37 Plan, the amount of CO2 emitted during 2021 – 2030 period could be reduced by 25%, which is more than the reductions targeted from all sectors.

Further, shifting from coal power to gas power altogether will help in achieving the President’s target of meeting 70% of energy consumed in generating electricity from renewable sources by 2030, as announced at a meeting he had on 14.09.2020 with the Power Minister, Renewable Energy State Minister and officials of the two Ministries and institutions coming under them. This is because the fossil fuel share will get reduced significantly with GPPs compared to that with CPPs.

CONCLUSION

Though the COPE had a meeting specially for looking into the affairs of the Norochcholai CPP, members appeared to have probed into matters seen on the surface instead of looking deep into its affairs. In particular, COPE has overlooked the following aspects of the Norochcholai CPP.

1. Whether the stack emissions from the plant conform to the National Emission Standards for Power Plants, violation of which is a punishable offence, and why the data are not made public.

2. Whether the AAQ measurements made by the CPP conform to the National AAQ Standards, and why the data collected are not made public.

3. Whether the CEB is aware of loss of livelihood for many in Norochcholai caused by deposition of ash on agriculture land and sea, and whether any compensation was paid for them.

4. Whether the CEB is aware of high levels of Mercury found in hair of women living around Puttalam Lagoon and why no action has been taken in this regard.

5. Whether the CEB has got the coal and ash from the CPP analyzed for their toxic heavy metals and radio-nuclides present in them, and if not why.

6. Whether the CEB is aware of the presence of radio-nuclides in coal ash and hence their unsuitability to manufacture bricks for use in house construction.

7. Whether the CEB is aware of the fact that it is difficult to achieve the President’s targets for RE share in power generation (70%) by 2030 by building more coal power plants.

8. Whether the CEB is aware of the fact that by shifting from coal to gas for power generation, the country can easily meet its obligations towards the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

9. What justification is there for planning to build more coal power plants causing heavy pollution when non-polluting power plants burning alternative clean fuels are available.

10. What justification is there for CEB to take four years to evaluate and make an award of a tender for building a 300 MW GPP operating with gas on BOOT basis.

11. What justification is there for the CEB to include building a coal power plant as a project to be executed urgently as a post-COVID activity which is nothing but an unethical measure to circumvent tendering.

The writer expects the COPE will probe into above matters at its next meeting with the CEB.

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Features

Beyond traditional jobs: Why Sri Lanka needs to facilitate the gig economy

Published

2 days ago

2026/09/25

Thilina Walpola

Image courtesy Oxford University

by Kapila Chinthaka Premarathne
Head of the Department of Agricultural Systems and a Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Economics at the Faculty of Agriculture,
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Beyond the Graduate Unemployment Number

Sri Lanka’s economic recovery has improved macroeconomic stability, but youth unemployment remains a significant labour-market concern. Around 43% of Sri Lankan youth aged 15–24 with postsecondary education are unemployed, the highest among the Asian economies compared in the IMF analysis, compared with about 36% in Bangladesh and 13.2% in Thailand. This reflects a problem of skills mismatches and the difficulty of connecting higher education with changing labour-market demand. The concern goes beyond unemployment itself. Sri Lanka has invested heavily in educating its younger population, yet the conventional labour market is not creating enough opportunities to convert these qualifications into income. Many young people possess degrees, technical knowledge and growing digital familiarity, but remain outside formal employment because suitable jobs may not exist in the right place, at the right time or under conditions compatible with their circumstances. This makes it necessary to think beyond traditional employment models and explore new ways of connecting Sri Lanka’s educated youth with economic opportunities.

This is where Sri Lanka needs to reconsider how it understands employment

Employment has traditionally been viewed through the employer–employee relationship, with qualifications leading to a formal job and regular salary. While this model remains important, digital platforms are creating new ways to generate income, allowing individuals to work for multiple clients across geographical boundaries without permanent employment. Sri Lanka therefore needs to look beyond simply creating conventional jobs and consider whether it is building the conditions for its educated population to participate in the growing global market for digital services.

The Opportunity of the Gig Economy

The gig economy extends far beyond ride-hailing and delivery services. Digital platforms increasingly connect skilled individuals with opportunities in software development, design, accounting, data analysis, digital marketing, translation, online education, research and consultancy. This is particularly relevant to Sri Lanka, where a highly educated population faces a relatively limited domestic market for specialised skills. Digital platforms can overcome geographical constraints by connecting Sri Lankan workers directly with international clients.

As highlighted in my previous LSE South Asia article on women and the gig economy, such work should not replace formal employment but can create additional income opportunities when supported by appropriate skills, digital infrastructure, training and institutional support. A skilled person in Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Batticaloa or Monaragala could potentially serve clients in London, Melbourne or Dubai without first relocating to Colombo. This makes the gig economy relevant not only to employment but also to Sri Lanka’s emerging digital services-export strategy.

A Digitally Familiar Generation

Sri Lanka’s younger generation is growing up with smartphones, social media, online learning, digital applications and digital financial services, giving them a level of digital familiarity that previous generations did not have. However, digital familiarity does not automatically translate into digital employability. The challenge is to transform everyday digital use into productive skills such as data analysis, artificial intelligence, software development, digital marketing, financial analysis and online professional services.

Sri Lanka therefore needs to move young people from being consumers of digital services to producers of digital value. Universities, vocational institutions and training providers can play an important role in converting existing digital familiarity into marketable skills that connect young people with both domestic and international opportunities. This is increasingly important as technological change and AI reshape labour markets and intensify the need for skills that match emerging forms of work.

The Gender Dimension

The gig economy may be particularly relevant to women, who often face barriers to conventional employment arising from childcare, eldercare, mobility, social expectations and rigid working arrangements. For mothers and women living outside major urban centres, fixed working hours and daily commuting can make formal employment difficult even when suitable jobs exist.

Digital gig work can provide greater flexibility, allowing women to undertake professional assignments from home or their communities and potentially serve international clients without relocating. As discussed in my earlier LSE South Asia article, this opportunity is most meaningful when supported by digital infrastructure, skills training, virtual work hubs, mentorship and appropriate institutional support. However, flexibility should expand women’s economic choices rather than simply add paid work to existing unpaid household responsibilities.

Pressure on Labour-Market Opportunity

The value of a job cannot be judged by salary alone, as commuting, working hours and household responsibilities can significantly affect its real economic value. Flexible digital work can potentially reduce some of these costs by allowing people to work from home or nearby digital hubs and participate in employment on a part-time or project basis. While gig work cannot solve all household pressures, a more flexible organisation of work can create additional employment opportunities while helping households manage their limited time and resources more effectively.

A Possible Third Option Between Unemployment and Migration

Sri Lanka’s migration and brain-drain concerns highlight the need to explore employment opportunities beyond the domestic labour market. While overseas migration will remain an important individual and economic choice, digital work can provide another pathway by allowing skilled Sri Lankans to serve international clients without physically leaving the country. Software developers, designers, analysts, researchers, translators and consultants can potentially earn from global markets while remaining in Sri Lanka. Digital gig work cannot eliminate migration or reverse brain drain, but it can create an additional option between domestic unemployment and physical migration—working for the world while remaining in Sri Lanka.

Recognising and Making Digital Work Reputable

A major institutional gap is that conventional systems are designed around salaried employment, while a freelancer may earn from multiple clients without a single employer or salary certificate. This can make legitimate digital workers difficult to recognise when they seek loans, leasing, insurance or business finance. Sri Lanka could address this through a voluntary digital-worker or independent-professional registration mechanism, providing a recognised economic identity based on qualifications, verified skills, platform activity and documented income, without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

Such recognition should also make digital income bankable. Banks could assess verified platform earnings, bank transactions, contracts, invoices, tax records, savings and repayment history alongside conventional employment documents. A standardised digital income statement could further help workers demonstrate their financial capacity. The key shift is from asking “Who is your employer?” to asking “Can your income be verified and is it sufficiently stable?”. This would allow successful digital workers to build financial credibility and use their earnings to access credit, acquire assets and develop their own businesses.

Digital Payments Are Part of the Labour Market

Access to reliable international payment systems is essential if Sri Lankans are to participate effectively in the global digital economy. Recent developments in PayPal’s local banking arrangements, including its partnerships with Sampath Bank and Commercial Bank, indicate progress in this direction. However, the broader priority should be a regulated and efficient digital-payment ecosystem that allows workers to receive international earnings, transfer them to Sri Lankan bank accounts, document their income and meet relevant financial and tax requirements with minimal friction. International payment infrastructure is therefore not simply a technology issue; it is an essential component of Sri Lanka’s emerging services-export economy.

Building Infrastructure Outside Colombo

Digital familiarity alone is insufficient without reliable internet, electricity, computers, software and suitable working environments, particularly in rural and underserved areas. To ensure that the gig economy supports regional development rather than becoming another Colombo-centred opportunity, Sri Lanka could establish regional digital-work hubs through universities, vocational institutions, libraries and public-private partnerships. These hubs could provide connectivity, equipment, training, mentoring and assistance with platform registration and international payments. If graduates must migrate to Colombo simply to access such infrastructure, the geographical advantage of digital work is significantly reduced.

From Freelancer to Entrepreneur

Gig work should not be viewed as an end in itself. A person may begin with small online assignments, develop regular clients and professional credibility, and eventually establish a small digital enterprise. This creates a potential pathway from graduate to freelancer, professional service provider and entrepreneur, allowing individuals to create markets around their own skills rather than waiting for conventional vacancies. Universities can support this transition by teaching students not only subject knowledge but also portfolio development, market identification, client communication, digital platforms and contract management. A degree demonstrates educational attainment, while a professional portfolio demonstrates what a graduate can offer to the market.

Facilitation Must Be Matched by Protection

Promoting the gig economy without appropriate safeguards could simply transfer employment risks from institutions to individuals. Digital workers may face uncertain incomes, weak bargaining power and limited social protection. Sri Lanka should therefore facilitate digital work while also ensuring opportunities for independent workers to build savings, access insurance and participate in portable social-protection mechanisms. Flexibility should create greater economic choice without compromising long-term financial security, particularly for women.

A regional Example from India: Think Globally and act Locally

India provides a useful regional example of how the gig economy can be approached as a policy issue rather than simply as informal or temporary work. NITI Aayog has estimated the size and future employment potential of India’s gig and platform economy and has developed recommendations covering employment generation, skills, financial inclusion and social protection. More importantly, India has begun creating institutional mechanisms around these workers. Its e-Shram portal provides a national database of unorganised workers, including gig and platform workers, creating a recognised identity through which workers can potentially access employment, skills development and social-security services. India has also explored platform-led skills development through skill certificates, skill passports and on-the-job training, while NITI Aayog has proposed cash-flow-based lending models that could allow platform workers to demonstrate creditworthiness through their earnings rather than conventional employment or collateral.

Social protection has also entered the policy framework. India’s Code on Social Security, 2020 formally recognises gig and platform workers and provides a basis for schemes covering areas such as accident insurance, health, maternity, disability and old-age protection. India is still developing and refining these arrangements, and Sri Lanka need not replicate the Indian model.

However, the experience demonstrates an important policy lesson: the gig economy can be supported through a system that identifies workers, develops their skills, makes their income more visible to financial institutions and extends appropriate social protection. Sri Lanka could develop its own simpler framework suited to its smaller economy, beginning with recognising digital workers and building the institutional conditions that allow their skills and earnings to become part of the formal economy.

Rethinking Employment and the Next Opportunity

The 43 percent figure for educated young Sri Lankans should encourage a wider discussion about the changing nature of work. Sri Lanka will continue to need conventional employment through firms, industries, farms, professional organisations and public institutions, but the changing labour market also requires new opportunities to connect educated Sri Lankans with global digital markets. The gig economy can provide an additional pathway to increase female labour-force participation, reduce the pressure for migration and brain drain, and connect Sri Lankan skills with markets beyond geographical boundaries.

This does not require a complicated bureaucracy. It requires recognising legitimate digital workers, facilitating access to international platforms and payment systems, allowing verified digital income to support credit assessment, developing portable social protection, and strengthening digital infrastructure and skills beyond major urban centres. Better data on digital workers would also help policymakers develop evidence-based interventions.

The future of work is therefore not only about creating more jobs, but about creating more ways for Sri Lankans to work, earn and build livelihoods while continuing to live and contribute in Sri Lanka. The gig economy should be recognised as part of an emerging digital labour market and services-export economy, where workers can build professional identities, earn internationally, access finance and eventually develop their own enterprises.

Features

Are religions getting redundant in the modern world?

Published

2 days ago

2026/09/25

Thilina Walpola

by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

We are living in an era of astonishingly rapid scientific advancement. From the time Apple launched the ‘iPhone’ in January 2007, the first targeting the mass market, smartphones have taken over the world, making them indispensable. According to the latest statistics, there are around 8.1 billion mobile phones with 7.4 billion active smartphones, for the world population of 8.25 billion. Except for a tiny minority of the very poor, most people have at least one smartphone.

We are now entering the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart robots. Recently, a ‘Chinese’ robot ran 100 metres faster than Usain Bolt! Though Alan Turing proposed the idea of ‘Thinking Machines’ way back in 1950, the real AI boom commenced with the release of the generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, by OpenAI in November 2020. Number of technology firms in the US as well as in China have joined the race, China catching up very fast, quite unexpectedly. There is a frenzy at the moment, raising expectations, as the imminent floating of these companies is likely to value the two leaders, OpenAI and Anthropic, trillion dollars each!

However, trouble is brewing in the AI field. On top of the concerns raised by environmentalists regarding the huge power drain by AI centres, there are recent reports of some AI models hacking independently into other systems, without human input. Worse still, a senior researcher at Anthropic, who has previously worked for OpenAI as well, resigned in early September on ethical grounds stating that the way the two companies are fast-tracking AI poses an existential threat to humanity. Surprisingly, instead of a rebuttal the head of Anthropic supported his view, soon joined by three more heads of leading AI developers. Whilst they agreed on slowing progress, President Trump has claimed that slowing is totally unnecessary as long as a super intelligent President like himself is at the helm! There does not seem to be an end to Trump’s grandiosity! He was joined by Tony Blair. In contrast, King Charles held a summit with representatives of all AI developers to find a way AI could be developed without a threat to humanity. That is how wise leaders act!

Less sophisticated AI tools are already in widespread use and installed in computers, laptops and smartphones. Some of us are using these automatically. However, the more advanced AI tools like ChatGPT can change even reality. For instance, AI can generate videos hardly distinguishable from real ones. What you enjoy watching on YouTube may be just the creations of AI! Some people use AI to write articles; only a few of them admit that they do so. Very soon we may be reading stories AI creates and listening to music, courtesy of AI. Technology seems to be fast becoming the new religion? Or, will the existential threat move us more towards religion?

Religion, perhaps, is as old as humanity itself; various belief systems evolving and disappearing coupled with the fortunes of the associated civilizations. Just like AI, religion is also a creation of the human mind which our ancestors did to explain many phenomena which appeared, at that time, to be supernatural. Starting with Animism, perceiving the divine in the natural world around, humans went on to Polytheism, believing in many gods like in Hinduism, culminating in the concept of Monotheism.

World’s oldest religion, Hinduism, still in wide practice, is devoid of a founder or a single text. The earliest scriptures, Rigveda, is considered to be around 3,500 years old but archaeologists have discovered symbols of importance to Hinduism as far back as 7,000 BCE. Though it is considered to be Polytheistic, it can be argued that it was the precursor of Monotheism, the concept of a creator God, as Brahma was the creator in the triad, Trimurti, Vishnu being the preserver and Shiva being the destroyer. It seems to be a sensible balancing act; create, destroy and repair with improvements.

It is pretty obvious that as science expands, the importance of religion contracts but it is hardly likely religions would be totally redundant. We have no choice as to which family we are born to and that invariably determines what your religion would be, if any. Religion is the first brainwashing a child encounters and most remain in the same faith, often trying to defend even the indefensible, but some change through conviction or conversion due to one of many reasons. Further, religious rituals have social values and religious practices often come to one’s solace at times of distress. Therefore, many will continue with the religion they were born to but with declining enthusiasm, at times. However, some religions seem to be facing problems like falling attendances in places of worship. With education and tech savviness expanding, one would expect the youth to be less enthusiastic about religion but the converse is true in some religions, some youth becoming very militant unfortunately.

While most religions make you subservient to a supernatural power, the Buddha was wise and bold enough to remove those shackles. He proclaimed that one’s destiny is in one’s own hands. However, many Buddhists appear to attach greater significance to rituals than to practising the Dhamma.

Buddhism as a religion may become less relevant as the frontiers of science expands but the Buddha Dhamma, especially Abhidhamma and Vipassana, would receive increasing recognition, the Buddha remaining an authority on consciousness and the mind.

Scientific progress should be for the betterment of society but AI developers are taking huge risks, taking massive loans threatening the world economy, for one aim: profit! Some do not seem to care even if their actions pose an existential threat to humanity.

Perhaps, if the Four Sublime Attitudes (Sathara Brahma Vihara) expounded by the Buddha; loving kindness (Metta), compassion (Karuna), empathetic joy (Muditha) and equanimity (Upekkha) are adopted as universal values, the world would become a safer place to live in, with or without AI.

Features

‘The Bullet that Missed’

Published

2 days ago

2026/09/25

Thilina Walpola

Tales of Mystery and Suspense 21

by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha

Another book that is part of a series, today—one that is fun without the brooding concentration on criminality in different forms that marks the Rebus novels. This one about the Thursday Murder Club, is a romp as its two predecessors were interspersed with deaths and what might be deaths.

The Bullet that Missed

begins with a meeting with the presenter of ‘South East Tonight’, a programme about the area, in which Coopers Chase is situated. The meeting is held because the club has decided to look into the murder of the producer’s assistant, Bethany Waites, whose car was found at the bottom of a cliff ten years ago. There was blood in it, but the body was never found.

Or, rather, the book begins with an account of Bethany Waites deciding, on the night she vanished, to meet someone in connection with a case of massive fraud that she had been investigating, after sending the producer, Mike Waghorn, a message that she had found new evidence though he had no idea what it was. The night she died, she sent him another message: “I don’t say this often enough, but thank you.”

CCTV cameras showed her leaving her place, but then the vehicle vanished, before being sighted near the cliff, with two people in it. Investigation of the fraud had led to the imprisonment of a woman, Heather Garbutt, though it proved impossible to pin anything on Jack Mason, the mastermind for whom she had worked.

The Club conducts investigations on several fronts, including through Connie Johnson, the drug dealer they had helped imprison in the earlier book. The psychiatrist Ibrahim, the most respectable member of the Club, interviews her in an attempt to get her to find out more from Heather, who is in the same prison as she. They also investigate the CCTV record of the night Bethany vanished, and deduce that she went to an apartment block and exited from its other side, and that is why she was not seen leaving the town. But some time had elapsed between her being seen in the town and then on the cliff.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth has been kidnapped, along with her husband, and taken to a house in Staffordshire, where she is told by a man called the Viking that she must kill a former KGB agent now in London, who has a profitable career in money laundering. The Viking tells her he will inform Viktor that she was responsible for stealing the diamonds, the story of which is told in the previous Murder Club Mystery, and Viktor will then kill her.

Elizabeth, who has an affair with Viktor, knows he will not kill her, but when the Viking says he will also send Viktor a picture of Joyce, she decides she must act, and goes to see Viktor, and fires when she gets him in the bathroom. But, of course, she fired into the ceiling, and Viktor is then taken to Coopers Chase, to stay with Joyce until they have dealt with the Viking. And Viktor then enjoys the camaraderie of the retirement home so much that he wonders whether he too should settle there.

Elizabeth does trace the Viking, or rather her husband does, for he has noticed rare books on the shelves in his library, and an antiquarian book dealer friend managed to find out who bought them. But before they could confront him, he comes to Coopers Chase, for he has seen the bullet hole in the bathroom of Viktor’s flat and realized he was fooled.

But he cannot bring himself to kill Joyce straight away, and she knocks him out with a drug in a cup of tea. When he meets Viktor, they both decide to fall in with the plans of the Club.

Before this, Heather has been found dead in her cell, with a note saying that ‘they’ were going to kill her, and only Connie could help. Before that she had admitted that she was frightened to name the man behind the fraud. Jack Mason said the same, after Ron had won his confidence. The Club had deduced by then that the body was buried in the garden of Heather’s house which Jack had bought, after she had been jailed, and digging reveals a gun and money, but no body. Jack tells them that the mastermind had said that Bethany was buried with a bullet with his DNA on it.

The Club is now working with the Chief Constable of Kent, Andrew Everton, who writes thrillers himself, but in the form of e-books. He is in search of a publisher, and delighted when Mike Waghorn puts him on his programme, as is Donna, who is substituted at the last minute for Chris.

The Club finds out whom Bethany visited in the apartment block—Mike’s assistant Pauline, who tells them later what she and Bethany had been doing. But this is after the man behind the fraud has been unmasked up in the house in Staffordshire, where he was trying to hire the Viking and Viktor to find the money that he had stashed away, using accounts that he could no longer trace. He has also confessed to murdering Bethany, hoping this will persuade the two money launderers to help him, but it turns out that he did not do this. Nor did he kill Heather, the incriminating note having been placed in her room by Connie, who decided that Heather’s suicide should be treated as murder so that the person who had been blackmailing her should be found out.

It was Jack Mason’s murder that was brought home to the crook. It turns out that Bethany, her appearance altered by Pauline, has vanished, to a new life in Dubai, where she has taken control of the missing millions. She has gone there because the threat, she received through the bullet she was looking at in the preamble, was to Mike and she wanted him out of danger.

Yet another whimsical conclusion to a whimsical book with enough loose ends left hanging for another sequel.