Features
Sustaining vistas of Peradeniya Campus landscape beyond 80 years
By Professor Emeritus Nimal Gunatilleke,
(nimsavg@gmail.com)
Member, Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka
The Peradeniya University was literally ‘more open than usual’ on the 01 July 2023, when it celebrated the very first Founder’s Day on her 80th (or 81st to be exact) birthday. Thousands of people, the majority of them being the young aspirants to higher education, thronged this world-renown Garden University of Sri Lanka on that day. They would have been, no doubt, enthralled by the scenic beauty of university park while paying equal or more attention to an assortment of events organised by the university within its library- and different faculty premises.
Amongst them, the Great Chronicle – Mahawansa text, which was selected as the authentic copy to be listed among the 64 new items of documentary heritage inscribed on the UNESCO’s Memory of the World (MoW) International Register in 2023, was on display at the new wing of the University Library. Also, the memorabilia of Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra including his hand-written briefs and the original costumes of the iconic Maname stage drama and a selection of rare paintings and line drawings of George Keyt MBE (1901 – 1993), who is considered Sri Lanka’s most distinguished modern painter was on display. Likewise, different faculties, too, had their own thematic exhibits for public viewing.
The university should be congratulated on organising such an event for the first time in its history for which the public response was so outpouring and the University was less than prepared for this ‘widely open-than-usual’ blitz. It reflects the inquisitiveness of people from all walks of life to see for themselves what is going on inside these portals of higher learning about which a gloomy picture has been painted more often than not.
I was informed by a former employee of the university that 17 busloads of students, their parents, and teachers, all from a single school in Jaffna had come, probably traveling overnight.
The lead taken by Peradeniya University in celebrating Founder’s Day with an Open Day, which most universities the world over has as a regular feature in their annual calendar is indeed heartening. It should surely be on the annual calendar of all our universities. Even more remarkable was that the Park was cleaned up of litter and residual garbage almost completely the following day and a special tribute to the University Health Services in charge of the garbage disposal among the many other chores they performed to their utmost to cope with the sudden deluge. Thankfully, the heavy rains that followed would have washed away any undesirables that remained.
University Park
The walk along the maze of driveways and footpaths within the University Park seemed to have fascinated the young and the old alike on this Open Day, as I myself, was witness to it. In this context, what came to my mind immediately was the Queen’s Drive on the occasion of the formal opening of the University of Ceylon at Peradeniya by HRH Duke of Edinburgh K.G in the presence of H. M. Queen Elizabeth II on the 20th April 1954, 69 years ago. The panoramic landscape along this Queen’s Drive on which the Royal Entourage was escorted by the first Vice Chancellor of the University Sir William Ivor Jennings is vividly described in the guide booklet that was prepared on the occasion. The landscape of the Peradeniya University Park which was planned by Sir Patrick Abercrombie and Mr. Clifford Holliday and implemented to near perfection by the renowned landscape architect Mr. Shirley d’Alwis during the preceding 10 years has been described in this booklet in the following way: ‘IN TWENTY YEARS’ TIME, THE UNIVERSITY PARK SHOULD BE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS’.
This was probably not an impetuous statement as Sir Ivor was already well aware of the outstanding beauty of the Royal Botanic Gardens, which he acknowledges as among the finest botanic gardens in the tropics at the time. He goes on to quote Count Angelo de Gubernatis – a mid-Victorian visitor from Naples in the former’s book ‘Kandy Road’: ‘ If India is the paradise of Asia; if the Island of Ceylon is the Paradise of India; the botanic Gardens of Peradeniya is the paradise of Ceylon, and thus, as has been said the Heart of paradise’(sic. p.59).
Most likely Sir Ivor was referring to the approx. 320-acre (130 ha) University Park Landscape which he compared with the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens. A detailed description of the avenue planting along the main driveway and the selection of tree species displaying the University Colours (Scarlet and gold) twice a year is given in the said booklet. Except for the larger Mara trees along the Galaha road and some rubber trees still surviving on the New Peradeniya Estate (now the University Park) amidst the buildings, all other trees were planted or have grown from seed in nurseries at the time the landscaping was originally planned.
When trees and woody climbers are in bloom (mostly planted exotics and some escapees from the Royal Botanic Gardens across the road), it is truly a magnificent spectacle to behold. For someone with a botanical interest seeing the nuanced seasonal changes in leafing and flowering of the manicured gardens and the associated woodlands is indeed a delight beyond measure.
However, the Mara trees are more than a century old now, and with the added weight of the aggressively growing woody creepers/lianes overtopping these tree giants pose serious risks of their limbs falling off during strong winds causing dangers to passersby. The curatorial staff of the University should join hands with those of the Botanic Gardens personnel, who are more professionally trained to manage its Park while incorporating creative ideas coming from academia through their research pursuits. In that way, the panoramic landscapes of the two institutions together uniquely positioned on either side of the Kandy Road would be even more beautiful than what Sir Ivor would have envisioned.
However, conventional landscaping with elegantly designed and manicured lawns, beds of exotic flower species including potential invasives, rows of non-native trees, etc., may help shape an aesthetically appealing, relaxing campus environment, but it also could pose a veiled threat to the native wildlife populations. The invasive and non-native species without their natural predators or normal control mechanisms, can spread exponentially and become dominant which we are already witnessing in the Peradeniya University Park.
History of Forest Conservation Initiatives in Hantana Mountain Amphitheatre
In addition to the 130 ha of the University Park in the lower slopes and the valley of the Mahaweli Ganga (part of Ganga Wata Korale), approximately 1100 acres (445 ha) on the upper slopes of Hantana forms a mountain amphitheatre draining to Maha Oya which meanders through the University Park and deposit its relatively clean water to the Mahaweli river just above the railway bridge. Hantana Ridge is the last westward bastion of the Hantana mountain range which forms the catchment from which the University continued to draw its water supply during Sir Ivor’s time until recent times.
The Hantana water scheme was initiated during the Second World War period to ensure a steady pipe-borne water supply by the troops of Lord Louis Mountbatten’s South-East Asia Command who occupied this parkland.
Realising its value as a watershed for the campus community, Sir Ivor was of the view that the Upper Hantana Campus land bequeathed from the Old Peradeniya Tea Estate should go back to a jungle with the added benefit of earning revenue from its timber that would provide a valuable endowment. Indeed, the Forest Department was advised to plant the area first with Mahogany in between the shade trees (mostly Albizzia spp.) of the abandoned tea plantation. In more recent times, in particular, during the USAID-funded Reforestation of Upper Mahaweli Catchment project in the 1980s, the remaining pathana grasslands on ridge tops and upper slopes were planted with Caribbean pine. About 100 ha or 14% of the University lands have been planted with pines during this project.
Large-scale planting of Pinus spp. in the watershed areas was (and still is) vehemently criticised by environmentalists having experienced negative impacts on biodiversity, soil, and water conservation exacerbated by frequent fire hazards. The University of Peradeniya was very much a contributor to this nationally important environmental debate on public media at the time, so much so that a symposium on ‘Reforestation with Pinus in Sri Lanka’ was jointly organized by the University of Peradeniya and the British High Commission on behalf of the Overseas Development Administration of the UK, in 1988, to address this sensitive issue between the environmentalists and forestry professionals. Being a part of the catchment of the Victoria Reservoir built with generous British assistance and together with the keen interest of the then British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David Gladstone on sensitive environmental issues of this nature would have paved the way for the British sponsorship of the event.
Quoting famous poets Longfellow, Tennyson, and Kipling, on ‘black and gloomy temperate pines’ ( in Hiawatha) in his Keynote Address, the High Commissioner conveyed the message that the objective of organising the symposium was to come to the grips of the problem of Pinus cultivation in Sri Lanka and if possible to reach a consensus on how to handle the issue of commercial and scientific considerations in guiding the hand that sows the seeds of the new forests or the tree farms. Reinforcing his standpoint, he went to the extent of posing 17 questions on Pinus cultivation in Sri Lanka for which answers were sought from the participating professional and scientific community at the end of the symposium, before embarking on supporting any further large-scale afforestation schemes based on Pine.
This landmark symposium probably would have positively contributed to the inclusion of a University of Peradeniya- Oxford Forestry Institute (UP-OFI) Link project to the overall Aid/Loan program on the Forestry Sector Development Plan for Sri Lanka with bilateral and multilateral funding in the early 1990s. The UP-OFI Link project was primarily geared toward facilitating collaboration in training and research in forest management.
Around the same time, Dr. Nihal Karunaratne, a distinguished citizen of Kandy, while being a member of the University Council in the late 1980s was instrumental in establishing a Forestry Subcommittee on ‘Reforestation of the University Lands’ and strongly supported the ongoing conservation efforts at the time. We ourselves being members of the same committee, while supporting his noble initiative, also proposed that a selected portion of the University land could be used as a crop gene pool garden in which the rare and valuable varieties of food crops, indigenous medicinal plants, industrial crops like rubber, and others could be maintained for posterity.
Being located in an environmentally favourable landscape in close proximity to the germplasm gardens of the Department of Agriculture and surrounded by traditional Kandyan spice gardens with fast-disappearing valuable gene pools of mixed species in them (spices, fruits and beverages like coffee), it would be a tremendous boost to agro-biodiversity conservation that the University could offer at a local, regional and even global scale.
As an example, the University of California, Riverside Citrus Variety Collection (UCR-CVC), USA is one of the most important collections of citrus diversity in the world. This collection with over 1000 accessions spread over in approx. 10 ha on the UCR campus is used for long-term research in plant breeding and educational extension services
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Riverside_Citrus_Variety_Collection#:~:text=The%20collection%20is%20composed%20of,in%20the%20Rutaceae%20subfamily%20Aurantioideae).
On a similar mission, we received a very favourable response from the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka at that time for establishing a rubber gene pool garden (seed orchard) with FAO assistance but unfortunately, these efforts did not materialise.
Subsequently, there was a subcommittee of the Lands, Buildings, and their Maintenance Committee (LBMC) for developing a Master Plan for Landscaping the University of Peradeniya in the 1990s especially to address primarily the issues of encroachments and requests for timber extraction. Towards the master plan preparation, maps depicting i) Land Use, ii) Contours and Slope Classes at 10 m intervals [1:10,000], and iii) physical structures were prepared with support from the UP-OFI link project and handed over to the then Vice-Chancellor. Around the same time, yet another project – The Multipurpose Tree Research Network of the Faculty of Agriculture in collaboration with the Sri Lanka-German Upper Mahaweli Watershed Management Project – was mooted to conserve stream reservations – Maha Oya in particular – with aesthetically pleasing landscaping incorporating appropriate tree planting. Currently, there is an urgent need for this as the Maha Oya embankments are eroding as a result of flash floods arising upstream in Upper Hantana with a threat to the very existence of the playing fields.
While serving on those committees and with our own experience in forest ecology, we initiated several forest restoration experiments in lower Hantana i) Reforesting pathana grasslands and ii) converting Pinus plantations into mixed-species plantations in 1991 and 2004 respectively, using several broad-leaved species that are widely used for timber and medicinal uses in Kandyan districts viz. Gini Sapu, Bedi Del, Mahogany, Albizzia, Bulu, and Mee.
Both these trials have proved to be successful applied ecological research models and after 20 years or more; these long-term forestry trials have demonstrated that indeed pathana grasslands as well as Pinus plantations can be converted to native species stands. Consequently, these two sites are being regularly used as demonstration models in providing training in restoration ecological fundamentals to the students at Peradeniya and other universities over the last two decades.
The above is an abridged chronological narrative of the history of some of the conservation efforts by the University of Peradeniya (formerly University of Ceylon) during the past eighty years since Sir Ivor’s initial recommendation for establishing revenue-earning forests in Hantana Watersheds. However, in the present circumstances, while aligning with our legally binding national commitments to the global conventions on the environment (UNCBD, UNFCCC, and UNCCD), there is a need for a transformative shift to a more ecologically sustainable campus landscape, in particular, the upper Hantana hill slopes.
We need to reassess the ecological and socio-economic context that this important watershed provides in this era of our national commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals – the UN’s blueprint for a more sustainable future for all. Their adoption could place environmental restoration, sustainability, adapting to climate change, and ensuring water security under the international spotlight. Two classic textbook examples of this kind of long-term watershed restoration projects, to take a cue from, are the Hubbard Brook Watershed Ecosystem in New Hampshire and the equally famous Catskill/Delaware watershed project in upstate New York, both in the USA. With the availability of modern computer and sensor technologies, long-term hydrological and meteorological monitoring in the Hantana watershed would be an invaluable teaching and research tool with the potential of upscaling onto all major river systems deriving wider-scale benefits in the era of changing climate.
Sustaining Peradeniya Campus Landscape as outdoor living laboratories
The campus landscape is the most highly visible representation of the university and its relationship with nature. Just like its buildings, the campus landscape can be seen as the physical embodiment of the cultural and other values of the region it represents – Kanda Uda Rata – being located at the Northwestern edge of the central highlands. As such, the campus landscape together with the surrounding Kandyan Spice Gardens of traditional communities in Uda Peradeniya, Dangolla, Penideniya, Hindagala and Mahakanda, is an asset for cultural sustainability, among others. It offers the potential to integrate environmental, economic, and cultural sustainability entwined with intellectual well-being into the fabric of the university for generations to come.
The present site for the then University of Ceylon chosen after an intense ‘battle for sites’ over a decade or more since the 1920s has emerged as a landscape that expresses the soul and personality of this outstanding institution about which Sir Ivor once had said that it had one of the most beautiful environments in the world. So many literary works have been associated with Hantana Mountain Range and its foothills. Consequently, the campus landscape with the human-dominated University Park and the nature-dominated Upper Hantana Wilderness has the potential to become a key instrument to advance university sustainability and a legacy for future generations to build upon.
A major portion of the Upper Hantana watershed is included in the Hantana Environmentally Protected Area (EPA) of the Central Environmental Authority declared under a Gazette notification (# 1641/28) which is under review at present. As such, the Hantana watershed is pronounced as a climatically benign and land degradation-neutral area of national importance with its inherent biological richness and ecosystem services effectively conserved.
The world today faces extraordinary environmental challenges and all Universities, being caldrons of innovative thinking have a crucial role to play in meeting this challenge of utilizing the campus landscapes as the best outdoor laboratories for socio-cultural, economic, and scientific exploration and management.
Today, the Peradeniya University campus landscape together with its neighbouring Kandyan Spice Gardens of world repute provides multifarious functions, including aesthetic appreciation, recreational facilities, and a living laboratory for academic pursuits while delivering crucial environmental services including ecological safeguards.
The ‘Living Campus Landscape’ concept could be incorporated into the University’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy, specifically to address the challenges of a growing peri-urban campus alongside the opportunities for a healthy environment provides for people and nature. For example, sustainable campus landscapes can demonstrate effective reduction of the university’s carbon footprint. In this context, perhaps a more rationalised perspective than what Sir Ivor originally envisioned to meet the current and future challenges through strengthening partnerships with public and private sector institutions and local, regional, and global communities including the ever-loyal alumni in these changing climates is the need of this critical hour.
Universities the world over are no longer ivory towers; they are inevitably the microcosms of the larger society with all its attendant advantages and drawbacks churning up from within. An enduring legacy of sustainability backed by meaningful transformative changes integrating scholarship with environmental stewardship can inspire generations to come.
AUSTRALIA
For the first time since 2017, Australia do not have global silverware to defend, with last year’s ODI World Cup semi-final exit following the relinquishing of the T20 title in 2024 after a hat-trick of trophies. They have a new captain, too, in Sophie Molineux who has taken over from the retired Alyssa Healy butAl has had a tricky start to her job due to a back injury.
Having been beaten at home by India in February, it’s a vital few weeks for the side to reaffirm their standing at the top of the tree. However, they find themselves in the group of death with one of them, India and South Africa unable to make the semi-finals.
While Healy has retired, the core of the squad remains very familiar although the call-up of left-arm quick Lucy Hamilton hints at the new generation. There is no shortage of spin options, so much so that Alana King may struggle to find a place in the XI despite recently being the Player of the Series in West Indies.
Squad: Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Georgia Voll, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Annabel Sutherland, Grace Harris, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molinuex (capt), Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt, Lucy Hamilton
Player to watch
Even before Healy’s retirement, injuries had prevented her playing T20Is since the last World Cup so Georgia Voll has had a decent run to establish herself at the top of the order. She has taken it with both hands. In 12 matches Voll is averaging 39.50 with a strike-rate of 156.43 – while the sample size remains small, that’s the highest figure of anyone with at least 400 runs in T20Is.
She made her mark against New Zealand last year, then enjoyed an impressive start to 2026 with 88 against India in Canberra before a breakout century in West Indies, her batting characterised by power down the ground. It feels as though she is already at the stage where she can star in a global event.
Predicted finish: Finalists
BANGLADESH
Player to watch
Pace bowler Marufa Akter could relish the conditions in England, particularly given her ability to swing the ball at decent speeds. An on-song Marufa is a delightful sight for those who love to see the ball seam and shape towards the batters. She has taken eleven wickets in as many matches this year, while maintaining a good economy rate.
But she has little support in terms of pace from the other end. Bangladesh have left-arm seamer Fariha Islam and Ritu Moni’s slow-medium pace. As a result, Marufa has to do most of the attacking in the powerplay, and then return to bowl pinpoint yorkers and slower balls at the death.
Predicted finish: Group stage
INDIA
India enter the T20 World Cup with the tag of ODI champions. However, their form heading into this tournament has been a little iffy. In the last six months, they won at home against Sri Lanka and away against Australia but lost both the away series against South Africa (4-1) and England (2-1).
The three match series against England showed their inclination to have the returning Yastika Bhatia batting at No. 3, which meant Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur occupied Nos. 4 and 5. Bhatia was the leading run-getter in the series with 119 runs but her strike rate (126.79) was the lowest among the top-five scorers.
Injuries to Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam mean India’s combination leans towards a five-bowler strategy with Shafali Verma’s part-time offspin as the addition. India’s familiarity with English conditions – they also toured England in 2025 with wins in each of the white-ball series – means they head into the T20 World Cup with some confidence.
Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Bharti Fulmali, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nandani Sharma, Radha Yadav
Player to watch
Smriti Mandhana is the lynchpin of this India team, and their fortunes will hinge on her. This is evidenced by the fact that she was India’s leading run-getter in last year’s ODI World Cup which they won. She also led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second WPL title earlier in the year, while topping the batting charts.
She is not just among the most experienced players in the Indian team but has the advantage of knowing conditions in the UK, thanks to her regular presence in the Kia Super League and the Hundred.
Predicted finish: Semi-finalists
NETHERLANDS
Netherlands will be at their first-ever women’s T20 World Cup (Cricinfo)
Everybody loves a newcomer, and this edition of the T20 World Cup welcomes Netherlands. They secured their spot at the qualifying tournament, where they finished in fourth place and beat the last tournament debutants, Scotland, along the way.
Though cricket is a minority sport in the country, it continues to punch above its weight and history provides plenty of reasons to regard the Dutch as plucky. In 2009, their men’s team made their first T20 World Cup appearance and beat England at Lord’s. In 2023, they were the only Associate nation to play at the men’s ODI World Cup. The women don’t have England in their group but take on heavyweights Australia, India – both for the first time – and South Africa, along with Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In personnel terms, Netherlands have four players with more than 1,000 runs in the format – Sterre Kalis, Babette de Leede, Robine Rijke and Silver Siegers – and they’re all in this squad. Iris Zwilling, their leading seamer, is two wickets away from 100. This will also be a swansong for coach Neil MacRae, who will hand over the reins to former Leicestershire, Namibia and Titans’ women’s coach Pierre de Bruyn on August 1.
Squad: Babette de Leede (capt), Caroline de Lange, Frederique Overdijk, Hannah Landheer, Heather Siegers, Iris Zwilling, Isabel van der Woning, Lara Leemhuis, Myrthe van den Raad, Phebe Molkenboer, Robine Rijke, Rosalie Lawrence (wk), Sanya Khurana, Silver Siegers, Sterre Kalis
Player to watch
Not only is Sterre Kallis their leading run-scorer in T20Is, but she has significant experience playing in England, across the domestic system and in the Hundred. Most recently, Kalis scored three fifties in the ECB Women’s One-Day Cup where she is the sixth leading run scorer.
Kalis has also played at the WBBL and will be able to provide her team-mates with inside information into a side they have never come across before. Along with Babette de Leede, who has experience playing in South Africa, Kalis will headline the batters as the Dutch look to show what they can do against some of the world’s best bowlers.
Predicted Finish One group stage upset and that’s where it will end.
PAKISTAN
As the women’s game develops at pace in many places around the world, there’s a sense Pakistan are struggling to keep up and this tournament could be a litmus test. Not only have their own board’s plans to develop a franchise T20 tournament akin to the men’s PSL stuttered then stopped entirely but, for reasons including geopolitics, their players have almost no exposure to major leagues. The consequences speak for themselves: Pakistan have won only one T20I series in the last two-and-a-half years and that was against women’s FTP newcomers Zimbabwe in May, and won one match in each of the last four editions of the T20 World Cup.
Though they are stacked with talent and have a well-resourced support staff, consistent results and major success are lacking. At an expanded tournament, their first aim will be to show they are a cut above the qualifiers and then to see if they can take some big names along the way. They’ll be hopeful of having their premier seamer, Diana Baig, for the entire tournament after she was injured during the 2024 event and will need their big hitters: Gull Feroza, Eyman Fatima and Natalia Pervaiz to come good to have a successful event.
Squad: Fatima Sana (capt), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Pervaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Saira Jabeen, Tasmia Rubab, Tuba Hassan
Key Player
Pakistan’s dynamic captain, Fatima Sana captured hearts when she had to leave the previous T20 World Cup after the sudden death of her father but then returned to lead thesa side in their final game. Though she earned much goodwill, she was unable to take Pakistan out of the group stage and was criticised for batting too low. Sana remains at No.6 but has had a remarkable 2026 so far, which has included scoring the fastest fifty in women’s T20Is, off 15 balls, and striking at over 200. Combine that with her new-ball bowling skills and the responsibility she carries as skipper, and it’s clear she is key to their chances.
Predicted Finish: Group Stage
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa have done everything but win a World Cup recently – they have reached the last three finals across white-ball formats – so every cricketing conversation in the country is about when they will take the next step. Pressure? What pressure?
While they may face plenty of it from a home base hungry for its first senior white-ball World Cup, South Africa routinely find themselves spoken about behind the big three. That means they may feel less of the spotlight in England, where the home nation has hearts aflutter and other eyes are directed towards the big two in their group. Six-time champions Australia and current ODI World Cup title-holders India stand in South Africa’s path to the semis and the smart money could be on that pair but… South Africa beat India 4-1 in a pre-tournament series at home and knocked Australia out of the last tournament so they’ll back themselves to rise above the reputations they face.
They selected their strongest possible squad, which includes two former captains (Dane van Niekerk and Sune Luus), six seamers, five spinners, two wicketkeepers and a well-set top seven. On paper, they have all the ingredients. In practice, they need to cook.
Squad: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Suné Luus, Karabo Meso (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Kayla Reyneke, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloé Tryon, Dané van Niekerk
Player to watch
It’s hard to look past Laura Wolvaardt, who was the leading run-scorer at the last three ICC events, including two T20 World Cups, as being crucial to South Africa’s chances but they’ve also put their faith in reverse-retiree Shabnim Ismail. At 37, Ismail has not been an active international for over three years but is the leading seamer in league cricket and lost none of the aggression that made her so intimidating to face.
Predicted Finish: Ch… we’d never touch the money.
(Cricinfo)
The Preamble to Sri Lanka’s Constitution states: “The PEOPLE of SRI LANKA having by their Mandate … entrusted and empowered their Representatives … to draft, adopt and operate a new Republican Constitution in order to achieve the goals of a DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC, whilst ratifying the immutable republican principles of REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRATIC”.
The intent of this exercise is to ascertain whether the practices as adopted by successive Governments to elect the People’s representatives are in keeping with the “immutable principles of Representative Democracy”.
According to Article 3 of the Constitution: “Sovereignty includes the powers of government, fundamental rights and the franchisee”. Furthermore, Article 3 is an entrenched article – Article 83. According to Chapter XIV, titled “The Franchise And Elections”, Article 88 states: “Every person shall, unless disqualified….be qualified to be an elector at the election of the President and of the Members of Parliament or to vote at a Referendum”. Therefore, it is the electors in the Electoral Districts, as determined by the Delimitation Commission (DC), that elect the President and Members of Parliament.
EXISTING INCONSISTENCIIES
= The first relates to Article 96 (1). This states: “The (DC) shall divide into not less than twenty and not more than twenty-four electoral districts…”. The reason for the upper limit for Electoral Districts is perhaps because Sri Lanka was originally divided into twenty-for Administrative Districts (now 25), and 96 (3) establishes a relationship between Electoral Districts and Administrative Districts when it states: “Where a Province is divided into a number of electoral districts the Delimitation Commission shall have regard to the existing administrative districts so as to ensure as far as practicable that each electoral district shall be an administrative district or a combination of two or more administrative districts or more electoral districts together constitute an administrative district”
Despite the fact that the Constitutional direction to the DC was that the Electoral District was to “have regard to the existing Administrative District”, the number of Electoral Districts established by the DC is twenty-two (22) while the number of Administrative Districts are now twenty-five (25). Although the provision to combine Administrative Districts into one Electoral District exists, the reason for the difference is reportedly because the DC decided to factor in issues, such as land which is extraneous to franchise thus compromising the sanctity of franchise and the sovereignty of the electors. On the other hand, if the Electoral District is coterminous with the Administrative District, not only would it protect the elector’s Franchise but also enable the elected members to address the administrative interests of the electors. Would such an opportunity not give substance to the “immutable republican principle of Representative Democracy”?
= The second inconsistency relates to Article 96 (4). This states: “The electoral districts of each Province shall together be entitled to return four members, (independently of the numbers which they are entitled to return by reference to the number of electors whose names appear in the registers of electors of such electoral districts), and the Delimitation Commission shall apportion such entitlement equitably among such electoral districts”.
Consequently, the four members to be returned from each of the nine Provinces amounts to thirty-six additional members, shall be apportioned equitably by the DC among the twenty-two (22) Electoral Districts together with the one hundred and sixty members from the electoral registers, thus making a total of one hundred and ninety-six members being elected through the franchise of the electors. The balance twenty-nine through the National List nominated by Political Parties is also elected by the electors, thus making a total of two hundred and twenty-five (225) Members of Parliament elected through Electoral Districts.
The irony however, is that although Members of Parliament are elected through Electoral Districts, all Executive Powers of the Line Ministries of the Central Government are implemented by the District Secretaries in the twenty-five Administrative Districts. The present convoluted process of appointing a Parliament through Electoral Districts and administering its functions through Administrative Districts cannot be justified. What would be more meaningful is to make Administrative Districts also perform Electoral functions such as appointing the Members of Parliament.
= The third inconsistency relates to the election of Members for Provincial Councils. According to the Provincials Councils Act: “Every administrative district in a Province shall for the purposes of elections to the Provincial Council established for that province, constitute an electoral area”
This is a departure from the practice adopted to elect Members to Parliament since they are based on outcomes from twenty-two (22) Electoral Districts. Therefore, it is worth exploring why Members to Parliament and Provincial Councils cannot be elected using the existing 25 Administrative Districts.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The intention is for an arrangement where Administrative Districts are also assigned electoral functions, so that both Members to Parliament and Provincial Councils could be elected by a single unit. The advantage would be that Administrative Districts could carry out Central Government functions under a District Secretary as at present, a parallel unit within the Administrative District could be set up to implement devolved powers in each of the Administrative Districts, while retaining the existing structural arrangements of Provincial Councils. This would facilitate the coordination of devolved powers with Central Government activities, thus improving productivity of each.
CONCLUSION
The current practice is that while representative of the Government of Sri Lanka is elected by Electoral Districts as stated above, Provincial Councils in the periphery with less powers than the Government are elected by electors in Administrative Districts of each Province. If elections to Parliament and to Provincial Councils are elected by electors in each of the twenty-five Administrative Districts, perhaps one election could elect Members to both bodies.
In view of the significant cost savings involved, it is imperative that serious consideration is given to equip Administrative Districts to serve as Electoral Districts for Parliamentary Elections as well as for Provincial Council Elections, since such an arrangement would further fortify the “immutable republican principle of Representative Democracy”. Furthermore, since such an arrangement would be closer to the People, services to them would be better served.
By Neville Ladduwahetty
The much-dreaded power cuts are already here though not declared as such. The tragedy is that the power cuts are not due to inadequate electricity supply, but the inability of the power and energy authorities to use the abundant solar and wind power installed without any financial or economic burden on the state. They ought to admit their lack of wisdom to be mindful of the rapid changes in the sector and the need to be equipped.
Fuel Prices have been increased again up to the 2022 levels. Therefore another Electricity tariff hike is inevitable. Perhaps, the government may hold it back until September, when the next tariff revision is due. An appeal has been made to “prosumers” to switch off their solar PV system in the fear of grid stability being affected. While there is excess solar power, which they are unable to manage, even when the demand is below the installed capacity and high contribution of hydro, solar and wind. May 31 (Sunday) energy mix indicated substantial use of oil in CEB-owned power plants and those belonging to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) . What is the rationale? One would believe that even the hydro reservoir water can be saved for use during the night, without curtailing solar and wind power. It will be said that the system is very complex and beyond the understanding of mere mortals like ordinary “prosumers”, who have added over 2300 MW to the grid, entirely at their expense and at rates well below the average cost of generation. (See Image 1)
Storage Batteries and Renewable Transition
The fact that the growing need for storage batteries to optimise the utilisation of variable renewable energy (VRE) has been felt for the last decade or more, and nothing was done about it, is never mentioned in their laments.
However, there is a glimmer of hope due to the initiatives taken by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL). An increase in the demand due to a general GDP growth will have to be met using renewable resources. It has been clearly noted that such alternatives must be developed while curtailing the use of oil and ensuring the uninterrupted power to the consumers.
Recognising this need and the fact that fastest intervention is possible by promoting BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems) to be added to all existing renewable energy sources, the PUCSL has initiated stakeholder consultation to determine the feed-in tariff payable for each type of BESS. A detailed methodology for determining the FIT has been circulated. The identified types of BESS discussed were as follows”
1. Power Plants
a. Mini -Hydro
b. Mini – Hydro-Local: mini hydro plants that at least use locally manufactured turbines
c. Wind
d. Wind – Local: Wind plants that at least use locally manufactured turbine blades
e. Biomass – Dendro – Biomass plants that use sustainably grown fuel wood
f. Biomass – Agricultural/Industrial Waste; Biomass fired plants use byproducts, like paddy husk, sawdust, sugar cane bagasse, etc.
g. Municipal Solid Waste
h. Waste Heat Recovery
i. Ground Mounted Solar PV
j. Floating Solar PV
2. Prosumers
a. Roof Top Solar PV
b. Rooftop Solar PV with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)
c. Prosumers with behind the meter Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)
3. Power Plants with BESS
We mentioned in an earlier article that the PUCSL proposed a scheme whereby we can get rid of use of oil for power generation in stages, commencing with elimination of the diesel use by 2027 and all imported oils by 2030.
Stakeholder Meeting & Feed In Tariff( FIT)
The PUCSL has been empowered by the new Electricity Act No 36 (as amended), which came into full force on 09 March, 2026, with responsibility for calculating and announcing all FIT schemes, both for purchase and sale of electricity to consumers.
A well-represented stakeholder meeting was held recently, when the proposed methodology for determining the FIT of each type of BESS was given to them to provide further specific inputs. It is, therefore, realistic to expect such a FIT to be declared by the end of June, 2026.
While this is a welcome and progressive step unlike the ad hoc process adopted hitherto. But the fact remains that the responsibility for the effective use of FIT to attract investors to add the BESS at different scales, lies with the one or more of the newly appointed companies to take over the functions of the former Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
Government Recognition of Fossil Fuel Risks
The current government has reportedly recognised the danger of overdependence on imported fossil fuels, which we have absolutely no control over. This is something we have been stressing for a long time. However, better late than never. As a matter of interest, we show the degree of fossil fuel dependence and its adverse impact on the economy. (See Graph 1)
It is to be noted that earnings from our traditional exports of tea, rubber and coconuts fail to meet the ever-increasing cost of importing fossil fuels. Time was when earnings from these exports barely helped meet the cost of import of fuels which was back in 2010. The rupee cost of imports is shown in Billions to keep the data columns within the bounds of the chart. This is the factor which affects you and me directly.
However, we earnestly urge the government to direct the electricity companies to take immediate action to prepare the grid which costs only a fraction of the values predicted by the CEB to institute their schemes which are not in line with the ground reality to accept the BESS system once the FIT is announced. Reasonable BESS and FIT will help attract investors with the assurance of short-term and long-term improvement, at no cost to the state.
Solar PV & BESS Proposal
We proposed some time back of the opportunity for those “prosumers” using 300 units per month, for installing solar PV with adequately sized batteries, which is more economical than drawing power from the grid, and to gain the happy situation, to be insulated from the danger of power cuts and further increases in consumer tariff.
The PUCSL intervention to declare a BESS tariff will add a great impetus to those who are willing to adopt the above proposal. They will be encouraged to increase the capacity of their installations as well as the battery capacity so that the excess can be exported to the grid during peak hours, when firm economic power is most needed. Such additional features would enhance their financial returns and would enable rapid elimination of the use of diesel during peak hours. In recent months with the depreciation of the rupee, coupled with the increase of costs of solar panels, inverters and batteries, our original analysis of financial viability of this interevention was facing some uncertainties. As such, we welcome this move by the PUCSL, whereby the consumers would have a steady revenue in addition to the savings on their monthly electricity bills. It is likely that the level of FIT and the permitted number of exports will be adequate to work with the increased costs, as shown. (See Table 1)
It must be noted that the cost values are highly volatile ,and some variations are to be expected. FIT for export on energy is stated as 60% of the current peak time energy charge of Rs 106/kWh.
This revolution is well within the means of the over 200,000 potential “Prosumers” who consume over 250 units per month. While they would fulfil their own goal of being immune to any power cuts as well as being insulated from future tariff increases, they would be serving the country by progressively eliminating the need for any fossil fuels for power generation. For example, if 50,000 of them add 10 kWh of battery capacity, the peak power demand can be reduced by 500 MW, thereby obviating the need for using the most expensive diesel during the peak period. Very special advantages can be derived by those also purchasing EVs instead of petrol and diesel vehicles. It will be possible to save on LPG, which costs Rs 4,700.00 per cylinder at present. Thus, the excuse for demanding ever increasing consumer tariff in the future will not be available. As such this move would help all consumers down to the lowest level of consumers.
It is hoped that the energy authorities recognise this reality and support the PUCSL proposals by approving the BESS FIT system and directing all Utility companies to adopt the same and urgently initiate action to install the simple infrastructure additions to accept the BESS energy, as proposed. If they care to review this proposal having discarded biases and any other agendas, they, too, will benefit.
Conclusion
The inescapable conclusion one can derive from the above is that the solution to the crisis is available from the consumers themselves in a manner that is attractive and profitabe to them. It would also be of major assistance for the Utility to manage the sector effectively and efficiently. In addition, all consumers will benefit by gradually weaning themselves away from the grid an use of oil for power generation. This would obviate any more demands for consumer tariff increases by the National System Operator. The PUCSL has taken an essential first step with its intention to declare a BESS FIT. It is up to the government to ensure that the Ministry and the Utility companies adopt the correct stance and make a commitment to ensure the success of this scheme as soon as possible.
by Eng Parakrama Jayasinghe
Past President and Council Member
Bio Energy Association of Sri Lanka
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