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Women-run hotel breaks down barriers

Published

1 year ago

2025/04/20

This photograph taken on March 31, 2025 shows a housekeeping staff setting a dining table at the Hotel Amba Yaalu in Kandalama. Photo by AFP.

(AFP) Time for the daily staff meeting at Sri Lanka’s Hotel Amba Yaalu where woman manager Jeewanthi Adhikari jokes: “This won’t look very serious, there are only girls around the table.”

The hotel, on the shores of Lake Kandalama in the green hills of central Sri Lanka, opened in January with a unique selling point — its staff are exclusively women.

It is a first in the country, designed to promote women in a tourism sector where men hold up to 90 percent of hotel jobs.

“The chairman wanted to start a new hotel with a new concept,” said Adhikari.

She explained how the idea sprouted from twin blows that hammered the island’s tourism industry — first Covid-19, then the 2022 financial crisis and subsequent political unrest that toppled the president.

“It has been really a bad time,” the 42-year-old said, noting that when there were employment vacancies, only men got the job. “We wanted to give opportunity and attract more women.”

Owner Chandra Wickramasinghe, president of the Thema Collection group which runs 14 hotels, said he wanted to showcase what women can do if given the chance.

“Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka in the hotels, there is no gender equality,” he said.

The blame rests on a mix of factors — lack of training, a culture where women are seen first and foremost as mothers, and very low wages which lead to the perception that women may as well stay at home.

“In our men’s society, when it comes to women working in hotels, it’s one nice girl in the reception and housekeepers to clean,” he said.

“I wanted to go a little bit further.”

For the 33 rooms of the Amba Yaalu — meaning “best friend” in the island’s Sinhala language — a team of 75 women handle every task, including those traditionally seen as for men.

They are enthusiastic, like maintenance worker Hansika Rajapaksa.

“People think it’s difficult for women to be involved in maintenance,” the 28-year-old said.

“But after coming here and undergoing training, we also can carry out the work that is expected of us without any difficulty”.

Meanwhile, Dilhani, who gave only her first name, feels confident in her role as a security officer after 15 years in the army.

“I have experienced war… I have manned roadblocks,” she said. “With that experience, it is very easy to do our work here.”

Others want to set an example.

“This a good opportunity for women to demonstrate their talents, to showcase our skills and courage to the new generations”, said 23-year-old chef Upeka Ekanayake.

Old habits were initially hard to break, manager Adhikari said.

“Our experienced staff were used to working around male colleagues,” she said. “Automatically, they waited for someone else to do things, because that is how they had been trained.”

But the owner said he shrugged off the doubts of colleagues.

“Some people didn’t believe in it,” said owner Wickramasinghe, who dismissed the misogynists who scoffed that an all-women team would just “start gossiping”.

The hotel has been welcomed as an “excellent initiative” by Nalin Jayasundera, president of the association of tour operators.

“We want to encourage even more women to join the tourism industry,” he said, adding it made a “very good impression on our customers”.

Clients have taken notice.

“I felt like I could speak up and answer questions ahead of my partner without them looking to him for confirmation,” one Canadian tourist wrote in a review on a booking website.

Women’s rights activist Nimalka Fernando said the initiative was “really path-breaking for Sri Lankan society”.

While she noted Sri Lanka was the first nation to elect a woman as prime minister — Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960 — tradition, culture and the labour market continue to block women’s rights.

She points out that women dominate the sectors that provide the country with its main sources of income: textiles, tea and foreign remittances.

“Women are treated as an exploitable commodity,” she said. “The important thing now is to give dignity to female labour.”

The Amba Yaalu is only the first step, acknowledges its manager, but it is making a change.

“We have single mothers and mothers with two or three kids,” Adhikari said. “Here, they don’t have to suppress what they want to do in their life.”

Wickramasinghe sees it as a way to highlight the lesson he learned as a boy.

“I’m inspired by my mother… she became a single parent with eight children,” he said.

“She was working in a hospital at the same time and she managed very well. So, I realised the power of a woman… that they can do wonders.”

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Sri Lanka ITEC Alumni Association formally launched

Published

19 hours ago

2026/10/10

Priyan

Sri Lankan professionals trained in India under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme have formed a national alumni association. The Sri Lanka ITEC Alumni Association was formally launched at its inaugural meeting on Thursday, 8 October 2026, at the Grand Crystal Ballroom of Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo.

The Association is a unique initiative of the Education Wing of the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka. The Wing oversees India’s education and scholarship programmes for Sri Lanka, including the ITEC programme. The initiative was led by Sandeep Chaudhary, First Secretary (Education), High Commission of India. His vision and support were key to bringing Sri Lanka’s ITEC alumni together under one platform for the first time.

The Government of India launched ITEC in 1964, and it has since become one of the cornerstones of India’s development partnership with countries of the Global South. The programme is fully funded by the Government of India and offers civilian training in a wide range of fields, including public administration, finance, information technology, engineering, management, agriculture, health and the environment. Courses are delivered at leading Indian institutions. Over six decades, ITEC has trained officials and professionals from more than 160 partner countries. Sri Lanka has been one of its most active participants, and thousands of Sri Lankan public servants and professionals have benefited from the programme.

The new Association brings these alumni together from government, semi-government and private sector institutions. Its aims are to foster professional networking, knowledge sharing, capacity development and community service. It will also encourage collaboration among alumni and guide and support future Sri Lankan participants in ITEC programmes. In doing so, the Association seeks to deepen the long-standing friendship and people-to-people ties between Sri Lanka and India.

At the meeting, members elected an Executive Committee to lead the Association. Ms. Gayathri Suveendran was elected President. The other office-bearers are:

Vice Presidents: P.B. Hasith Sandaruwan and Leo Darshan
General Secretary: Anupa Weerarathne
Assistant Secretary: Vimukthi Dushantha
Treasurer: S. Rubadharshan
Assistant Treasurer: I. Ravikumar

Four sectoral committees will carry the Association’s work forward:

Establishment, Administration and Finance: Prof. M.I.M. Mujahid Hilal, M. Farwis, Milroy Aluthwatta, W.P. Suraweera, M.S. Thayaraj and Asinsala Senevirathne.

ICT, Digital Transformation and Innovation: Sujah Ameer, Danushka Diunugala, T.M.M. Perera, Tharanga, M.K.H.P. De Silva, Pubuditha Madushan and Arulkumaran Mahalingam.

Coordination, Organising and Legal Affairs: T. Srirajeevan, Theja Jayathilaka, Eng. A. Lingeswaran, Chaminda K. Uda, Kumuduni, S. Sinthujan and Ananda Arasu.

Media, Public Relations and Publications: Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi, Dr. Gayani Kaushalya, Anandi Premarathne, Vimukthi Dushantha, R. Suhanthan and Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta.

The founding of the Association marks a significant milestone for the ITEC community in Sri Lanka. It turns individual training experiences in India into a shared national resource, and it adds a new professional dimension to the enduring partnership between the two neighbours.

News

Measures underway to protect Diyagama Forest as a Reserve — Deputy Minister of Environment

Published

19 hours ago

2026/10/10

Priyan

The government is taking all necessary measures to protect the Diyagama forest area located in Homagama within the Colombo District, Deputy Minister of Environment, Anton Jayakody,
stated on Friday (9) while delivering a special address in Parliament.

Originally an abandoned plot of land, it has regenerated naturally over the past two decades into a sensitive ecosystem bearing the characteristics of a rainforest. With rapid urbanization, numerous wildlife species displaced across
the Colombo District have now migrated to and found sanctuary in this ecological haven.

Citing field research conducted by a team of scholars from the University of Colombo—including Prof. S.W. Ranwala, Prof. Ileperuma, and Prof. Abeykoon—the Deputy Minister pointed out that nearly 120 species of flora and fauna have been identified in the area. Among them are species endemic to Sri Lanka, as well as rare wildlife such as the red slender loris and pregnant animals close to giving birth, clearly testifying to the rich biodiversity thriving within this habitat.

Located adjacent to the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium and the Japan–Sri Lanka Friendship Baseball Ground, this green zone serves as a vital ecosystem for absorbing carbon
dioxide emitted by athletes and residents in the vicinity.

In addition to directly contributing toward Sri Lanka’s commitments under the Paris Agreement to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the forest also functions as a vital catchment area feeding into the Bolgoda water basin.

Accordingly, following the approval of the Colombo District Coordinating Committee (DCC) with the participation of the Divisional Secretary, government officials, and environmentalists, steps will be taken to submit a Cabinet paper to formally declare this valuable woodland a forest reserve, the Deputy Minister emphasized.

News

NPP govt. reminded of its responsibilities as US warship leaves Colombo

Published

20 hours ago

2026/10/10

Thilina Walpola

Alireza Delkhosh

Stranded Iranian ships off SL:

Iran has reminded Sri Lanka that as a member of the UN the government is obligated to fulfil its responsibilities.

Iranian Ambassador Alireza Delkhosh in Colombo said that in terms of the Convention on the Law of the Sea (Article 98) as well as SOLAS and SAR Conventions, Sri Lanka couldn’t refrain from providing the needs of the Iranian vessels stranded in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Ambassador Delkhosh was responding to a recent Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s declaration that neither the government nor private companies would provide food, water and medicine to these ships.

The Ambassador questioned how Sri Lanka accepted illegal and unilateral US sanctions against Iran, contrary to the JVP’s much touted historic anti-imperialistic manifesto.

The Iranian vessels are believed to be under constant US surveillance to prevent any supplies from getting through.

The Iranian Embassy made these comments as USS Tulsa (LCS 16), an Independence-variant littoral combat ship arrived in Colombo where it received supplies. The US Embassy declared that; ” this goodwill visit provides an opportunity to strengthen ties between US and Sri Lankan sailors while the ship refuels and resupplies before continuing its mission in the Indo-Pacific.”

Ambassador Delkhosh said that even if the above-mentioned Conventions weren’t adhered to, there existed, what he called, unwritten yet binding conventions that compelled Sri Lanka to assist. “It is the Convention of not forgetting past friendship and Convention of Humanitarian Actions.”

The Iranian envoy emphasised that these conventions that exempt no country from extending humanitarian aid, especially Sri Lanka, which, throughout its recent history, has been a recipient of Iranian assistance.

A section of the international media reported that Sri Lanka faced the risk of secondary sanctions from the United States if Sri Lanka allowed supplies to reach the stranded Iranian vessels. Twenty vessels are believed to be stranded in EEZ.

Former Sri Lankan Ambassador in Tehran, M.M. Zuhair, recalled how the Iranian government swiftly and decisively provided assistance, amidst western efforts to jeopardise the military campaign, by undermining the national economy.

As the war entered a crucial stage, the government found itself in an extremely difficult situation. Following talks at the highest level, Iran provided Sri Lanka with an interest-free and concessionary oil credit facility worth $1.05 billion to help obtain crude oil requirements, President’s Counsel Zuhair said.

If not for the rolling credit line, easing severe foreign exchange pressures, the Rajapakasa government could have faced an insurmountable challenge, the former diplomat said, adding that, unfortunately, those in decision-making positions now have forgotten the past. (SF)