Sri Lanka Management Service Association (SMSA) says that the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local government haven’t taken tangible measures so far to address their grievances.

SMSA Secretary Nuwan Pradeep Kithsiri told The Island that they faced severe salary anomalies and service discrepancies. Against the backdrop of growing unemployment among graduates, the SMSA proposed what Kithsiri called a sustainable solution to the Consultative Committee of the Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry to overcome the difficulties.

Alleging that the Consultative Committee failed to have a scientific discussion on SMSA’s proposals, Kithsiri said instead a sub-committee that inquired into the issues at hand put out an interim report. Responding to another query, Kithsiri alleged that it was meant to suppress the issues and definitely not to solve them.

Accusing the National People’s Power (NPP) government of turning a blind eye to their legitimate grievances, Kithsiri said that the administration would have to pay a price for following the advice of one or two trade union activists pursuing their own interests and the ministry.

This sort of approach could cause deterioration of the NPP government, he said, adding that the government should keep in mind that a particular position taken by the majority was not always right.

Kithsiri said that in the run-up to the last presidential election, held in Sept, 2024, SMSA handed over the same set of proposals to the Secretary to the Ministry Pradeep Yasaratne, Director General of Combined Services S. Aloka Bandara, Director General of Management Services S.K. Liyanagama and Director General of Establishments H. A. Chandana Kumarasinghe. Unfortunately, none of them, individually or collectively, sought to intervene, Kithsiri claimed. According to him, successive governments deliberately deprived the management services of the position they deserved.

Kithsiri said that the government wanted the management services under their thumb and use them as political tools.

The incumbent government was taking steps to recruit required numbers to management services as it quite rightly realised their services were needed, Kithsiri said, while recalling the deterioration of management services by the use of development officers to carry through work of management service personnel. (SF)

Marking a significant milestone in the digital transformation of the country’s legal sector, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has adopted LankaSign Digital Signatures, enabled by LankaPay, to digitally sign electronic documents to drive digital transformation in the legal profession.

To commemorate this landmark initiative, several key office-bearers of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka were ceremoniously handed over highly secure LankaSign digital signature tokens on 05 January, 2026, at the premises of the Bar Association.

Digital signatures would play a key role in the digitalisation of the legal system by enabling legal professionals to sign electronic documents anytime, anywhere, delivering unprecedented convenience and efficiency. In addition, digital signatures allow for the secure electronic sharing, archiving, and retrieval of documents, significantly reducing reliance on physical paperwork. Importantly, they provide an enhanced layer of security through authentication, non-repudiation, and data integrity, which are paramount requirements for legal documentation and proceedings.

President of the Bar Association Rajeev Amarasuriya expressing his views on the occasion stated “This initiative represents a significant step towards the digitalisation of the legal profession. The use of secure digital signatures will improve efficiency, reduce reliance on physical documentation, and strengthen trust in electronic legal processes. BASL is happy to provide leadership to this transition in collaboration with LankaPay, supporting the vision of seeing a truly digitised legal system.”

Speaking of the collaboration with BASL, CEO of LankaPay Channa de Silva stated “It is our pleasure to note that BASL has taken a very progressive step to adopt LankaSign digital signatures, marking an important step in embracing secure digital communication within the legal fraternity. LankaPay is happy to support BASL by providing digital signature tokens to its office bearers, which symbolises our shared commitment to a future-ready legal ecosystem, becoming an integral part of the country’s broader digitalisation journey. We commend BASL for this progressive move in supporting legal professionals to operate within a digitally enabled legal ecosystem in Sri Lanka.”

As the apex professional body, representing over 26,000+ legal professionals islandwide, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka recognises its responsibility to prepare its membership to operate effectively within a fully digitalised judicial ecosystem. The introduction of digital signatures to the BASL marks the first phase of a broader rollout that will be extended to the Association’s wider membership in due course.

This collaboration with LankaSign underscores BASL’s commitment to embracing secure, trusted, and nationally governed digital solutions in support of Sri Lanka’s evolving legal and judicial landscape.

Sri Lanka’s mineral sector presents significant investment opportunities, particularly in graphite, mineral sands (ilmenite, rutile, zircon), and rare earth elements, driven by investor-friendly policies and the push for value-added processing, with potential exports reaching US $2 billion said Senior Economist and the Chairman of Energise Australia Pvt. Limited, Dr. Arosha Fernando.

Dr. Fernando has participated in a number of recent international investment forums, including in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, focusing on global economic trends and fostering new investments, especially in sectors like AI, semi-conductors, and technology, building on Taiwan’s strong economic outlook and efforts to become an Asian asset management hub.

He further learnt Taiwan’s mineral policy focus on securing critical minerals for high-tech manufacturing (semi-conductors, batteries) and clean energy, leveraging its strong downstream processing capabilities (magnets, components) through partnerships.

During the Forum, Dr. Fernando explained that the key areas for investment include high-purity graphite mining, graphene tech, advanced gem operations, and mineral sands development which is fully supported by the Board of Investment (BOI) and the new national mineral policy currently being formulated in Sri Lanka. While challenges, like regulatory clarity and past corruption concerns. exist, the focus is on attracting foreign investment for sustainable, modern mining to capture more of the island’s untapped mineral wealth, he further elaborated.

The government plans to make the maximum utilisation of its mineral resources to bolster the nation’s economic growth, and the potential for creating value-added products from these resources. Given the island nation’s rich mineral resources, the government has devised plans to expand investment opportunities.

Dr. Fernando requested the Sri Lankan government to further foster foreign investments and proposed that the state conduct a comprehensive ore reserves study to maintain transparency and informed decision-making within the industry. An ore reserve study will determine the economically recoverable quantity and quality of minerals in a deposit, involving geological modelling, data analysis (from drilling), and economic assessment to classify resources as reserves for mining, using standards like JORC or SAMREC, and is crucial for mine feasibility and planning.

Sri Lanka’s mineral export potential is as much as US $ 2 billion annually where the realised amount is only US $ 389 million as estimated by the ITC Export Potential Map, a report compiled by the Pathfinder Foundation.

“We think it makes a lot of sense for Sri Lanka as well. In Australia we know the potential of the minerals and the renewable energy sectors because much of it has already been realised. Mining, as many will know, makes a massive contribution to Australia’s economy. It’s roughly 10 percent of our GDP, more than 60 percent of our export revenue. These are huge figures,” Australian High Commissioner Matthew Duckworth said in a recent event held in Colombo that investing in minerals and renewable energy has made a lot of sense for Australia.

Commenting further on the mining sector, he said Sri Lanka had significant export potential here, including for many minerals that are only going to be in greater demand globally. We know there are graphite deposits in Sri Lanka that are renowned for their quality – crucial inputs into modern technology. We also know there are mineral sands deposits in the northern and eastern provinces.

“Now just as Australia has really benefited from the development of our minerals and most recently our renewable energy sectors, we really want Sri Lanka to benefit from this here as well. We see common interests for both our countries in this. On renewable energy for example, our view is that Australia and Sri Lanka share the same interests here,” he further added.