Features

SLFP – What fate awaits it

Published

5 years ago

2021/09/15

By Gunadasa Amarasekera

The reason for the SLFP leaders to celebrate its 70th birth Anniversary, I believe was promoted by a desire to make a comeback out of the depths to which it has sunk in recent times. Despite the desire to come back, has it the vitality, the elan left to do so? This is a question to be asked not only by the SLFPers themselves, but by the vast majority that happens to be the children of ’56 and also by all those who are interested in the well- being of the country-the nation. To answer this question, one needs at least a brief analysis of its genesis, its history and its past performance.

The biggest misfortune the SLFP has faced and is facing even today is its inability to identify itself, understand why it came into being. Except for a discerning few, most of the present generation including our so- called intellectuals and even those who have undertaken to lead the Party, lack this understanding.

For many, even today, it is a quirk of fate; for some elitist groups it’s the result of a demagogy spawned by a disgruntled few. Very few have addressed their minds to find an answer. GC Mendis was one among the few who sought to delve deep to seek an answer. He saw it as a lapse on the part of the main civilised political stream which allowed the barbaric tide languishing at the periphery to overtake it!

However, the die- hard SLFPers see it as nothing but the creation of its great leader-SWRD Bandaranaike – Bandaranaike with his slogan of ‘Sinhala in 24 hours’ was able to sway the masses, achieve victory and create history. Little do they realise that it is not the leaders that create history; instead it is history that creates leaders. Bandaranaike did not create a new party as such; he only delivered what was created by history, and played the role of the midwife or the obstetrician. This historical perspective has eluded those devotees of Bandaranaike.

The SLFP is a party that is different from all other parties that have emerged after Independence. The UNP was founded on the liberal ideology of the West, the Socialist parties were founded on Marxism, which once again was a product of the West. The SLFP, on the contrary, has its origins in the soil; it is rooted in the Sinhala Buddhist civilisation, which has nourished this nation over the centuries. This can be ascertained from the historical background that gave birth to this party.

After the Uva-Wellassa rebellion, the national liberation movement gave up the armed struggle and opted for a non-violent path. By then the renaissance movement initiated by Asarana Sarana Saranankara, during the Dutch period, had permeated to the rest of the country, especially to Ruhuna. It produced the intelligentsia, the educated Sangha community who were to spearhead the movement. Two great seats of learning – Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara were established by the pupils of Sarankara.it was this background that made Anagarika Dharmapala emerge by the end of the 19th century. It was he who took the message to the masses with a number of cultural movements. In his travels across the country, he realised that those villagers, the peasants, though living in poverty, had retained a civilisational consciousness inherited from a past; he also realised that this civilisational consciousness which lay dormant could be awakened in his fight against imperialist forces. By the beginning of the twentieth century the British ruler realised the threat imposed by Anagarika. The IGP said there was a likelihood of Anagarika surrounding Colombo one morning with ‘his barbaric hordes’. The rulers with the help of the comprador class and the deracinated members of the National Congress groomed by them were determined to take Anagarika off the stage, silence him and destroy his movement. They succeeded in doing so, but failed to destroy the seeds sown by him in the minds of the vast masses. Those seeds took root and flourished unnoticed with the passage of time, the nourishment needed was produced by the indigenous intelligentsia, the writers, novelists and poets of the time – sanga-veda-guru – the forces of ’56, came out of that milieu.

Except the young Bandaranaike, who had returned from UK, no other leader was aware of the silent revolution initiated by Anagarika. It was that awareness that made Bandaranaike establish the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1934.The Sinhala Maha Sabha produced the blue print needed for the formation of the SLFP in 1951. The Sinhala Maha Sabha has suffered great injustice being labelled a chauvinistic Sinhala caucus. The truth is far from it. The SMS envisaged a political organisation that would not only look after the economic needs but also the cultural aspirations of the people who had suffered at the hands of the colonials. It addressed its mind to the unity of different communities and as a prerequisite to that unity it emphasised the need to unite the Sinhalese who were divided by political affiliations, by religion, caste and creed. It maintained that; it is only then, that other groups could be brought in as stake holders, participating in a common civilisation. This is possible when there is a non- antagonistic symbiotic relationship between these cultures and civilisations. (I think this a point that Huntington missed when he considered /assumed culture and civilization as one and the same.) This, I believe was the state of affairs in this country prior to the advent of the foreigner. This is so, even today at the village peasantry level, and this is what prompted President DB Wijetunge, a great villager himself, to make that most misunderstood statement -comparing the Sinhala nation to a tree around which the other ethnic groups should wind themselves for their survival. I believe this vision of the Sinhala Maha Sabha is more relevant today when the so -called reconciliation at the expense of the major community has failed miserably. It was a mistake on the part of Bandaranaike to have dissolved the Sinhala Maha Sabha when he joined the UNP; ironically what made Bandaranaike form the SLFP was the rejection of the proposals of the Sinhala Maha Sabha at the Madampe sessions by the UNP.

The great victory achieved by the SLFP in ’56 was not one that was anticipated by many. I don’t think that even Bandaranaike anticipated it; his close friend and founder member of the Party, Bernard Aluwihare left the party on the eve of the elections saying that he was not prepared to carry the coffin. There is a story I have heard from a reliable source that is symbolic of the situation and the quandary faced by the great leader and the nation. Bandaranaike, after a hectic election campaign had retired early to bed, the night, the election results were to be announced. He had told the family members, not to put him up; the family members though overjoyed by the results, had remained silent till the following morning. When they heard his footsteps coming down the stairs they rushed to announce the victory- Bandaranaike had stopped coming down and sat on the steps, silent, wrapped in deep thought for a long period.

I think this premature victory had its ill-effects on the party; it had the vision, but lacked the political structures, institutions, and the economic policies that were needed to translate the vision into praxis. Though it spoke of a nebulous middle path, a socialism of its own, there were no concrete plans to achieve those ends. I believe Bandaranaike had the vision, the intellect, to translate that vision. His death––a result of a conspiracy still unraveled––denied him that opportunity.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was able to implement some of the policies that were envisaged by her husband. But she had no holistic agenda. The Marxists who were with her, were partly responsible for it; they were interested not in a nationalist plan but a Marxist agenda. Some of the results were horrendous, such as taking away the lands of the locals; indiscriminate nationalisation followed by corruption, discouraging local entrepreneurship, austere measures –hal polu. miris polu and bread queues that made life impossible for the middle class, and the poor.

The situation was seized by the old fox JR to present the coalition as an adharmista evil force. What was ironical is that he was able to use the same lingo, the same terms dharmista which formed the core moral and ethical values of the SLFP. But this debacle suffered by the SLFP was temporary, it was no threat to its survival.

However, it was Chandrika Kumaratunga who assumed the leadership of the Party who was capable of thwarting) its survival.

It was Chandrika Kumaratunga who was able to destroy for the first time, the Sinhala Buddhist cultural foundation on which the SLFP was built. It was no longer the Party of the Sinhala majority-the backbone of the SLFP. It was turned into a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multireligious, multi-cultural party. Having transformed it, she was prepared to hand over North and East to Mr Prabhakaran for 10 years; invited the Norwegians to divide the country in the name of reconciliation, and was ready to execute the P-Toms together with Prabhakaran. She confessed later that the decision she made to dissolve Parliament was a mistake, which action was what allowed the war to be continued.

In all these, Chandrika Kumaratunga was ably supported by Mangala Samaraweera, with his thavalam and sudu nelum campaigns. I do not wish to believe that she extended her blessings to Samaraweera to co-sponsor the traitorous resolution by the US against our country.

The greatest harm inflicted on the SLFP was the derailing and destroying the economic policies followed by it from its inception. Though they may have not been clearly defined, they were always anti-imperialist, pro nationalist and pro socialist. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was always guided by her civilisational consciousness, she never allowed imperialist powers to exploit this country, she was fearless and bold enough to nationalise the American oil companies in spite of the threats of that super power. Her government cleared all the debts we had accumulated, JR Jayewardene reversed all this with his open economy -a euphuism for neo colonialism.

Chandrika never tried to get back to the economic policies of the SLFP, she was happy with the neo liberal policies of JRJ. Under the pretext of giving a human face, she embraced them gladly. However, what is most disappointing and damaging was that Mahinda Rajapakse who followed her als o continued with the same policies when he had the opportunity to change them.

The result of these contradictory, harmful trends, was the loss of vision, direction and loss of ideology, resulting ultimately in the loss of confidence of the people. The SLFP became a headless body-a kawandaya. No attempt was made to recover the lost head; what was attempted was to graft the heads of liberal donkeys and heads of Marxist horses, adding insult to injury. ( In my address at the Bandaranaike Commemoration I pointed this out.)

It was left to President Sirisena to complete the task and finish off the Party. He did so by doing the very opposite of what the founder of the Party did 70 years ago, by making the SLFP an appendage of the UNP, and taking it back to the folds of the UNP. The last supper (of hoppers) at the Temple Trees was followed by the crucification of the kawandaya.

This was the fate of the SLFP; the fate that awaits it today, cannot be much different.

What is really worrying is not so much the demise of the kawandaya, but its repercussions. Ranil Wickremasinghe may have thought that it was a superb strategy on his part to embrace Sirisena. He would have thought embracing Sirisena means destroying his opponent the SLFP for good. Little did he realize that it was the embrace of death, that it would kill his party as well as himself. He had ultimately secured a dishonorable grave for his grand old party after 75 years. In spite of all these repercussions, one would say that not everything is lost. The two main parties in their death throes have thrown up two saplings; the Pohottuwa and the Telephone which would carry on their mission. It would be extremely naive to believe in such a fantasy. The Pohottuwa will wither away before it blossoms, and the telephone will be dead before it answers the call.

Ultimately, we are left with a political dessert, a wasteland with no hope and nothing in sight as visualised by the poet – “What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow out of this this stony rubbish,”. All signs are there, that we are fast approaching that stage. (On the other hand the poet may be wrong where this resplendent isle of ours is concerned… that stony rubbish can produce heroes out of clowns and comedians as well as politicians to lead us.)

However, let me not end what I have to say only with this dismal picture to the children of ‘56, who had pinned their faith on this party and now feel betrayed and let down. There is no need to lose faith. The SLFP as a party may be dead, but not the ideology that gave it birth, it’s alive. It’s that ideology that made 6,900,000 of you to vote Gotabaya to power. That ideology founded on our centuries old civilisation as old as the Chinese civilisation will die only with the death of our civilisation. That it has not suffered such an untimely death is proved beyond all doubt by the victory of Gotabaya.

In 1959, three years after ’56, I wrote an article to that prestigious- now obsolete -journal Sanskrithi; I made the observation — that you the children of ’56 are the ones who would come to power and redeem this country. As you know that has not come to pass, it has remained a dream. The blame lies with you. You, living through dark times, especially after ’77, did not realise that what is needed is an enlightened dialogue, an intellectual engagement to prepare you for such a task. As a matter of fact, there had not been such a dialogue since Independence for you to get ‘connected to it’. What was there, was the despicable politics of power-hungry politicians to which you too became a prey. You thought the answer was in the barrel of the gun which wiped out a whole generation of you -that should have been a lesson to you.

I hope this present discussion on ‘the role of the children of ‘56’ would open your eyes to the need for such an intellectual engagement and an enlightened dialogue based on the civilisational ideology and the civilisational consciousness that it has generated, which you have not lost. It is only then, and then only that you can claim to seek power.

(Based on the contribution made on zoom seminar ‘On the role of the Children of 56.)

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Features

World Cup Football, Trump’s War and Peace Chaos, and Obama’s Serene Legacy

Published

12 hours ago

2026/06/21

Thilina Walpola

Barak Obama and Michelle Obama statue at the new Presidential Centre

President Trump is constantly exceeding expectations about his ability to spread chaos in his country and around the world. To the chaos and destruction of the war against Iran that he began on February 28, he is now adding the chaos of peace. The 2026 World Cup has crashed into the chaotic world of both. In the midst of all of Trumps’ chaos, the US is anchoring the hosting of 2026 World Cup Football, flanked by Mexico to the south and Canada to the north. In the midst of it all, former President Obama held the opening ceremony for the Obama Presidential Centre in southside Chicago on Thursday, June 18.

It was a beautiful ceremony that was full of grace and elegance and a call for future action to stop America’s aberrational detour of the last 10 years and restore its historical march towards being a more perfect union as stipulated in the constitution. Trump was not mentioned but the contrast was clear. In attendance were all former US Presidents and world leaders of the Obama era, including Germany’s Angela Merkel and Canada’s Justin Trudeau. The Presidential Centre is a massive campus with a 225-foot behemoth tower, a museum, library and a basketball gym.

The project has been controversial with initial community backlash about its location in a public park and the threat of gentrification that may drive modest households in the area out of their homes. The actual implementation of the project and the choreographing of its opening ceremony would seem to have responded well to the early concerns. The City of Chicago has passed an ordinance to preserve affordable housing in the area, and a University of Chicago study has projected that the Centre would create 1,900 new permanent jobs and an annual $220 million economic spin-off for the City.

The timing of the opening could not have been politically more apt than being midway through Trump’s rapidly unravelling second terms in office. Local and national artists provided politically immersive entertainment, and the speeches were by President Obama and the former First Lady Michelle Obama, the two finest of speakers in contemporary America. Neither of them mentioned Trump, but both left no doubt of their concern with Trump’s America and “fierce urgency” of the moment to start undoing all of Trump’s misdoings in America and around the world. Obama insisted that Centre is not meant to be a monument to his presidency but a “vibrant, living celebration of community,” and hoped that it would inspire Americans now experiencing “anger and vision” to look “for fairness and common sense and mutual respect,” at the same time.

The Centre and its opening ceremony are a perfect foil to the Trump’s presidency and its grotesque ways. This year Trump is presiding over the 250^th anniversary of American Independence. And he is doing it in his own way – inviting the King of England to mark the occasion and then hosting an evening of wrestling, of all places on one of the White House lawns, featuring only badass white male pugilists. The latter was also in celebration of his 80^th birthday. A good majority of Americans including Republicans do not approve of Trump’s vulgarization of American culture.

Trump signing the MOU at Chateâu de Versailles

Trump wants to transform Washington to entrench his name and image in perpetuity, to elevate him to the same status heights of presidential greats such as Lincoln and Kennedy, and to leave everywhere the maximalist mark of his obsession with gold and its colour. But the courts, certainly those below the Supreme Court, would have none of them. One after the other, the Courts have disallowed his bizarre efforts at narcissistic exhibitionism. A US District Court Judge in Washington has declared that Trump’s directive to change the name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts be known as the “Trump-Kennedy Center” is unconstitutional, and he ordered the restoration of the original name along with the removal of the name of Trump from all of the Centre’s venue names, websites, records and documents. The courts have also stopped Trump’s construction ball to build a new oversized ballroom devouring one of its historic lawns. The president went ahead without license or permit excavating a foundation cavern, and now his legacy after he leaves the White House could be a gaping hole in front of the main building. It will fall to his successor to bury Trump’s legacy and back-fill the hole.

World Cup Antidote

It turns out that after 18 months of Trump’s chaotic and traumatic second term, the World Cup is a welcome antidote to the convulsions that only the current US president is capable of causing for others. For sports fans in general, the World Cup is crashing into a crowded midyear sports agenda, that includes the French Open and the Wimbledon tournaments in tennis and majors in other sports. With technology enabling the simultaneous coverage of the global and the local, sports like other entertainments is catering to the local and global interests of fans.

Forty eight countries, including Iran, are in the bowl, and their supporters and flags are overflowing the streets and stadia of the 16 cities in the US (11), Mexico (three) and Canada (two), where the matches are being played. FIFA oligarchy could not have found a better free market host than Donlad Trump. Ticket prices have gone through the roof, for unlike in Europe and South America where there are limits on prices, there is none in the US but only limited restrictions in Canada and Mexico. FIFA is reaping the American free market and keeping the national football associations quiet against fandom pressure by sharing the ticket bounty proportionately with each national outpost.

On the other hand, it is also remarkable to see massive crowds filling up the stadia and other public venues to watch their favourite game. For all the talk and reality of inequality in wealth, there is also money in the pockets of many to splurge on tickets for a world cup football game, the modern opium of the masses. As with the old religion, there is a hierarchy among spectators and their seats, the latter rising from the close-up seats at the pitch level, where the price is at its highest, and reaching to the skies above from where one can steal a bird’s eye view of the action below at much lower but still high prices.

For American sports fans, the World Cup came crashing into the finals of the National Basketball Championship, which was especially remarkable this year because the New York Knicks whose home base is the storied Maddison Square Gardens, the Mecca of basketball, in the heart of New York, won the national championship after an interval of 53 years. For basketball aficionados, the victorious 1973 Knicks team included such national figures as Phil Jackson and Bill Bradely. Jackson would later coach Michael Jordon and Chicago Bulls, and Kobe Bryant and LA Lakers, guiding them to multiple championships. Bradley went on to become a long serving US Senator from New Jersey for the Democratic Party and was an unsuccessful presidential contender in 2020. Bradley was often compared to the similarly unsuccessful Adlai Stevenson whom President Kennedy appointed as his envoy to the UN, calling him “the most articulate statesman of our time.”

The Knicks’ long awaited victory may inspire hope among contenders at the World Cup. Only eight countries have won the World Cup so far – Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay. Netherlands has been to three finals but never won the cup. Italy that has won four World Cups has twice failed to qualify – in 2022 and again in 2026. Germany, another four-times winner is looking to return to its winning ways and end its dismal record since 2014. Mexico and Portugal are leading soccer countries but have never won the cup or been in the finals.

England who invented the game has won the cup only once – way back in 1966 – and is hoping to win again. “Coming home … football is coming home”, the 1996 song is now being sung everywhere England is playing in North America. First sung to mark England’s hosting of the Euro Cup in 1996, the song has become England’s veritable football anthem blending nostalgic joy for the 1966 win and pathos, with hope, for the country’s successive losses ever since. The English team this year parades an impressive array of young talent. Fans are both hopeful as well as resigned as has been their wont. They have reason for hope as pundits have short listed England among the top four contenders.

As the opening matches are being played out, the favoured teams are acquitting themselves well. Argentina, the reigning champions, has sent perhaps the strongest message with its 3-0 victory over Algeria. More than the scoreline, it is Lionel Messi’s masterclass of a hat trick that has electrified the fans and alerted the other teams. France is not far behind with its 4-1 win against Senegal. England registered a stirring 4-2 win against Croatia, the country that defeated it in the semifinals in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The most favoured country Spain was totally out of sorts in its opening game and was held to a goalless draw by Cabo (or Cape) Verde, the little West African island and part of the Dutch Kingdom. Other contenders, Brazil, Portugal and Netherlands were held to 1-1 draws respectively by Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Japan. At the same time, Mexico, South Korea, USA, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Austria have scored impressive opening match victories. Iran played well against New Zealand in a 2-2 tie. No one is expecting any country that has never won the World Cup before to become champions now. The last time it happened was in 2010 when Spain won for the first time and only time so far. But that does not dampen fan enthusiasm over every match that will be played until the finals on Sunday, July 19, in New York City.

The paradox of Peace

American attention to world matters has never befitted the country’s superpower status. And the chasm have never been wider than under President Trump. The level of awareness ranges from total ignorance to absolute indifference. The attention to the war against Iran has been no different. The people, politicians and the media have almost singularly been focused on the price at the pump and the cost of groceries. These are fundamental concerns in politics, no doubt, but the economic havoc that the war is causing for the Middle East and the rest of the world has never been an equal concern in the US public discourse and media commentaries. Of course, American experts will lead the way analyzing and writing about the global effects of the war on Iran, but that will be a postmortem and it will not compensate for the real time failure of the Trump Administration to give due weight, as a superpower must, to the global effects of its war making decisions.

Trump admitted in France that he signed the MOU with Iran to avoid “economic catastrophe” in the US. That says it all even though he will likely never say it again. The MOU is officially called – Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran. So, Pakistan gets its place in history and deservedly so. And Trump crafted his own history by signing a hard copy of the MOU at the Palace of Versailles, of all palaces, following his G7 summit attendance in the French Alps. Will the same hard copy be ever signed by an Iranian leader is an open question. That will be for future museums to explain, among many other leftovers of Trump. Trump may also use a certified copy of the document, if not the original itself, for the next application on his behalf for the Nobel Peace Prize.

This MOU has been signed by multiple times by both sides, but perhaps its strongest endorsement came with the approval of direct negotiation between Iran and the US given by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mujtaba Khamenei and read out on state television. The paradox of this peace is that while the MOU is universally welcome everywhere in the world, it is receiving the harshest scrutiny within the US. There is no palpable enthusiasm for it in the country. The war hawks are not at all pleased. Republicans are confused about Trump going to war for no reason and signing an MOU that gives Iran a control over the Strait of Hormuz that it never had before.

Democrats have no interest in welcoming the MOU, and they are focused on the overall failure of Trump in the Middle East. The powerful Israeli lobby has gone mute, fully realizing that their Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has overreached himself with his war zealotry and made Israel unwelcome among a majority of Americans and a virtual pariah state in the world. Vice President Vance, who is doing damage control to save his own presidential plans for 2028, has warned that Israel must realize that President Trump is “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”

The 14-point MOU is a finely worded and compact document, but it would have received universal support even in America had Trump achieved this without going to war and as an extension of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5 + 1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) that was facilitated by President Obama. Trump tore up that agreement and has been personally vindictive in criticizing Obama for allegedly reaching a deal that was only advantageous to Iran. It was not, and Trump’s irrational criticisms of the JCOPA are now coming back to haunt him as US critics are picking apart Trump’s MOU by comparing it to Obama’s JCPOA and taking into account the war-cost of the new MOU. Overseas, the G7 leaders who have been insulted by Trump all along, are welcoming the MOU as a “game changer,” perhaps hoping that flattery is the only way to keep Trump’s antics to be minimal for the rest of his presidency.

by Rajan Philips

Features

Meththa Rehabilitation Foundation:Restoring Mobility, Dignity and Hope Across Sri Lanka

Published

12 hours ago

2026/06/21

Thilina Walpola

For thousands of Sri Lankans living with limb loss and physical disabilities, access to quality rehabilitation services remains a significant challenge. Yet, for more than three decades, our organisation has quietly transformed lives through innovation, compassion and community-based care. The Meththa Rehabilitation Foundation Guarantee Limited (MRFGL), supported by the Meththa Foundation-UK has emerged as one of Sri Lanka’s most effective voluntary rehabilitation service providers, restoring mobility, independence and dignity to some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

The Foundation’s roots stretch back to 1994, when a group of expatriate Sri Lankan professionals in the United Kingdom recognized the severe shortage of rehabilitation services available to disabled persons in Sri Lanka. Drawing upon their expertise in rehabilitation medicine and allied healthcare professions, they established the Meththa Foundation-UK with a simple but powerful vision: to provide affordable, high-quality prosthetic and rehabilitation services to those who needed them most.

What began as an effort to recycle and repurpose high-quality prosthetic components donated by the UK’s National Health Service has evolved into a comprehensive rehabilitation network serving communities across the island.

Clinical services commenced in Sri Lanka in 1995 through a mobile outreach programme that initially supported injured soldiers and later expanded to civilians affected by conflict and disability. The majority of them were victims of land mines. In 2010, the Sri Lankan arm of the organisation was formally registered as the Meththa Rehabilitation Foundation Guarantee Limited, strengthening its ability to deliver sustainable services nationwide.

Today, the Foundation operates four modern rehabilitation centres located in Mahawa, Mankulam, Balapitiya and Kilinochchi. These centres provide prosthetic and orthotic services, posture and mobility support, limb repairs, and rehabilitation assistance to patients from diverse social and economic backgrounds.

Recognising that many disabled individuals live in remote areas with limited access to healthcare, Meththa Foundation also established a mobile outreach service in 2011. Through a successful “Hub and Spoke” model, rehabilitation teams travel regularly to underserved communities, ensuring that patients are not denied care simply because of distance or financial hardship.

The scale of the Foundation’s work is impressive. During 2025 alone, the organization recorded approximately 2,000 patient contacts, including the provision of 350 new artificial limbs, 850 limb repairs and around 800 other rehabilitation devices. For many beneficiaries, these interventions represent far more than medical treatment; they offer a pathway back to employment, education and social participation.

Innovation has become a hallmark of the Foundation’s approach. Through an active research and development programme, MRFGL has developed affordable prosthetic technologies specifically suited to Sri Lankan conditions. Among its achievements is the development of a modular below-knee artificial limb system manufactured largely from locally sourced materials. The Foundation has also designed low-cost prosthetic knee components that significantly reduce the financial burden on patients while maintaining quality and functionality. These developments are funded by generous International Grants facilitated by affluent members of the Meththa Foundation-UK. Service users are encouraged to donate whatever they can but for those who cannot, which is a majority the services are entirely free.

These innovations not only make rehabilitation more affordable but also strengthen local manufacturing capabilities and reduce dependence on imported components.

Equally important is the Foundation’s commitment for building local expertise. Recognizing the shortage of trained rehabilitation professionals in Sri Lanka, Meththa Foundation established an apprentice-based vocational training programme that recruits and trains young people as prosthetists, orthotists and rehabilitation technicians. Several locally trained staff members are now employed across the Foundation’s centres, helping to create a sustainable workforce for the future.

The organisation’s work has attracted growing recognition within the healthcare sector. Discussions have already taken place with health authorities regarding the potential use of Meththa-designed prosthetic components within Government hospitals. Such collaboration could significantly expand access to affordable rehabilitation services throughout the country.

Beyond its clinical achievements, the Foundation’s impact is measured in restored confidence and renewed independence. Surveys conducted among beneficiaries indicate that many educated amputees successfully return to productive lives after receiving rehabilitation support. However, the Foundation also highlights an ongoing challenge among poorer and less educated amputees, many of whom struggle to access follow-up care due to transportation difficulties and financial constraints.

To address this issue, the organization hopes to expand its mobile services and community outreach programmes. Additional funding would allow rehabilitation teams to reach isolated communities more frequently, ensuring that vulnerable patients continue to receive the support they need.

Operating on an annual expenditure of approximately Rs. 30 million in Sri Lanka, supplemented by overseas fundraising and donations, the Foundation remains heavily reliant on the generosity of donors, charitable trusts and well-wishers. Every contribution directly supports the provision of artificial limbs, mobility devices, training programmes and outreach services for those who might otherwise be left behind.

As Sri Lanka continues to strengthen its healthcare and social welfare systems, organisations such as the Meththa Foundation demonstrate how innovation, volunteerism and dedication can create lasting social impact. By helping individuals regain mobility and independence, the Foundation is not merely providing artificial limbs—it is rebuilding lives and restoring hope.

For many beneficiaries, every step they take is a testament to the life-changing work of the Meththa Foundation.

www.meththafoundation-sl-uk.org

Chairman’s WhatsApp contact number +94 77 788 6119

Prof S P Lamabadusuriya, Chairman

Dr B Panagamuwa, First Trustee

Features

Sri Lanka’s Marine Frontline: Dr. Samantha Gunasekara’s Battle Against Plastic Pollution and Transboundary Waste

Published

12 hours ago

2026/06/21

Thilina Walpola

Dr. Gunasekara with Environment Minister Dr Dhammika Patabendi at the First International Conference on Marine Science & Sustainability

For decades, Sri Lanka’s coastline has been celebrated for its pristine beaches, rich marine biodiversity and vibrant fishing communities. Yet beneath the beauty lies an escalating environmental crisis that threatens ecosystems, fisheries, tourism and coastal livelihoods.

At the forefront of the battle against marine pollution is Dr. Samantha Gunasekara, Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), who has spearheaded some of the country’s most ambitious coastal restoration and pollution mitigation programmes in recent years.

In an interview with The Island, Dr. Gunasekara outlined the scale of the challenge facing Sri Lanka’s marine environment, from locally generated plastic waste to transboundary pollution washing ashore from beyond the country’s borders.

He also spoke about the ongoing clean-up following the MV MSC Elsa 3 maritime incident and the urgent need for regional cooperation to tackle marine litter in the Indian Ocean.

“The issue is much bigger than what people see on a beach,” Dr. Gunasekara said. “When the public notices plastic bottles, polythene bags or other debris on the shoreline, they are only seeing the final stage of a problem that begins many kilometres inland.”

: Transboundary pollution

According to him, more than 80 percent of marine plastic pollution originates from land-based sources.

“What is found in the ocean is largely a reflection of what happens on land. Waste discarded into canals, streams and rivers eventually reaches the sea. Unless we address waste management within the country, marine pollution will continue regardless of how many clean-up programmes we conduct.”

He noted that household waste, industrial refuse, improperly managed dumpsites and littering remain major contributors to marine pollution.

Over the past year, MEPA has intensified its coastal clean-up operations, restoring numerous beaches that had been heavily contaminated by plastic and polythene waste.

The results have been dramatic.

Photographs documenting several restoration projects reveal coastlines once buried beneath layers of plastic debris transformed into clean and attractive public spaces.

“The President himself expressed concern after seeing the scale of pollution in some areas,” Dr. Gunasekara said. “That support has enabled us to move forward with several restoration initiatives.”

Yet, despite local efforts, Sri Lanka continues to face a challenge largely beyond its control—transboundary marine pollution.

Dr. Gunasekara was particularly concerned about the volume of waste washing ashore in the Northern Province and surrounding islands.

He said islands such as Delft, Nainativu, Punkudutivu and Eluvaitivu receive enormous quantities of foreign-origin debris every year.

“The quantities are unbelievable. If someone visits these locations after a rough sea period, they will immediately understand the magnitude of the problem,” he said.

According to observations made during numerous clean-up operations, a significant proportion of the debris appears to originate from across the Palk Strait.

“Based on the labels, packaging, language markings and the nature of the waste, it is evident that much of the material comes from India. In some locations, nearly all the debris collected can be traced to Indian sources,” Dr. Gunasekara said.

He stressed that the issue should not be viewed as an attempt to assign blame but rather as a regional environmental challenge requiring regional solutions.

“The ocean does not recognise political boundaries. What enters the sea in one country can easily end up on the shores of another. This is why cooperation among neighbouring countries is essential.”

Nevertheless, he believes stronger action is required.

“Sri Lanka invests considerable resources in cleaning its coastlines. When foreign-origin waste continuously arrives on our shores, it places an additional burden on our economy and our institutions.”

Recognising the seriousness of the issue, MEPA has prepared policy proposals and submitted recommendations through the relevant ministry seeking higher-level government engagement.

A Cabinet paper addressing transboundary marine debris has also been prepared for consideration.

“The intention is to facilitate discussions at government-to-government level. We need practical mechanisms for prevention, monitoring and mitigation,” he said.

Dr. Gunasekara pointed out an apparent contradiction.

“Several coastal areas in India have received international recognition for beach cleanliness and environmental management. Therefore, there is no reason why similar standards cannot be maintained more broadly. The challenge is ensuring that waste generated inland does not eventually enter the marine environment.”

Another major challenge facing Sri Lanka has been the aftermath of the MV MSC Elsa 3 incident, which released large quantities of plastic nurdles into the marine environment.

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets used as raw material in plastic manufacturing and are considered among the most difficult forms of marine pollution to remove because of their small size and tendency to disperse over vast distances.

Dr. Gunasekara recalled that the first signs of contamination emerged in Delft Island before spreading rapidly along the coastline.

“Initially there was little evidence of significant contamination. Then, within weeks, large quantities began washing ashore,” he said.

The pellets eventually spread across numerous northern islands and along extensive sections of the western coastline.

MEPA responded immediately, deploying personnel and mobilising local communities.

For the first three months, the authority led much of the clean-up effort directly.

However, the scale of contamination soon required additional resources.

Discussions were initiated with representatives of the shipping company and its insurers.

“The company agreed to support the clean-up operation under MEPA’s supervision and technical guidance,” Dr. Gunasekara said.

Today, thousands of workers continue to participate in the recovery effort.

At its peak, nearly 1,700 labourers were engaged daily in collecting nurdles and associated debris from affected coastal areas.

The operation remains one of the largest marine pollution response exercises undertaken in Sri Lanka.

Workers have been provided with protective equipment, water, welfare facilities and logistical support funded by the responsible parties.

“The objective is not simply to remove visible pollution but to minimise long-term environmental impacts,” Dr. Gunasekara said.

The task has proven far more complex than initially anticipated.

Changing ocean currents and rough weather have redistributed pollution into previously unaffected locations.

“Areas that were relatively clean months ago are now receiving fresh deposits. Therefore, the operation remains dynamic and requires constant monitoring.”

The volume of recovered material has been staggering.

According to MEPA estimates, approximately 47 shipping containers have already been filled with collected debris.

“These containers include nurdles, bottles, packaging material and other plastic waste recovered from beaches and coastal habitats,” he said.

The authority is now examining environmentally responsible disposal options.

Recycling remains difficult because prolonged exposure to seawater often contaminates plastic materials and reduces their suitability for conventional recycling processes.

Adding another mystery, MEPA recently detected coloured nurdles among the recovered pellets.

“We have found red, blue and green pellets. Traditionally, nurdles are colourless. We are investigating the source and significance of these findings,”

Dr. Gunasekara said.

Despite the immense challenges, he remains encouraged by the support received from local communities.

Fishing families, religious leaders, schools and volunteer groups have joined restoration efforts across the country.

In the North, villagers welcomed clean-up teams with garlands and handmade gifts as expressions of gratitude.

“These gestures demonstrated how much these communities value their environment,” he said.

Religious institutions have also become important partners.

“In several coastal regions, churches and temples helped coordinate volunteers and identify the most vulnerable communities requiring assistance.”

Looking ahead, Dr. Gunasekara believes Sri Lanka must adopt a broader vision of marine environmental protection.

He argues that marine pollution should no longer be regarded solely as an environmental issue.

“It affects fisheries, tourism, public health and national development. Every plastic bottle thrown into a canal ultimately becomes someone else’s problem.”

He also advocates stronger regional cooperation within South Asia to address marine pollution, improve waste management and establish joint monitoring mechanisms.

“The future of the Indian Ocean depends on collective action. No country can solve this problem alone.”

As Sri Lanka continues its struggle against mounting environmental pressures, Dr. Gunasekara’s message is both urgent and hopeful.

“The sea has sustained our civilisation for generations. Protecting it is not merely an environmental obligation; it is a responsibility we owe to future generations.”

For the chairman of MEPA, the mission extends beyond cleaning beaches. It is about safeguarding an entire marine heritage—one that remains central to Sri Lanka’s identity, economy and future prosperity.

By Ifham Nizam