By Asoka S. Seneviratne –
Prof. Asoka.S. Seneviratne
“Government officials misspent or misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tsunami aid after failing to follow instructions.” ~ AuditorGeneral’s Department Sri Lanka (2005)
Sri Lanka today faces another devastating national tragedy, with Cyclone Dithwa leaving a trail of destruction—loss of lives, missing persons, displaced families, damaged homes, destroyed businesses, and ruined public infrastructure. Yet this moment of national distress has also revealed something fundamentally different: a government that places transparency, accountability, and public trust at the centre of its disaster-relief efforts.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED), together with the President’s Media Division (PMD), has issued clear, comprehensive, and fully transparent instructions.
on how international and local contributions must be made. This sharp clarity of purpose stands in direct, profound contrast to one of the darkest episodes in Sri Lanka’s administrative history—the period following the 2004 tsunami. Then, the nation was not merely struck by a natural disaster but was subsequently wounded by an unprecedented governance disaster.
This article examines, contrasts, and highlights the radical shift between the scrupulous and accountable conduct of the present government and the profoundly unscrupulous, opaque, and politically exploitative behaviour of the administration during the tsunami period. The differences are not minor. They define the kind of nation Sri Lanka aspires to be: one that learns from history rather than repeats it.
1. A Historical Wound: The Tsunami and the Collapse of Accountability
When the tsunami struck in December 2004, the world rallied around Sri Lanka with immense generosity—billions of US Dollars or rupees in financial contributions, shipments of humanitarian goods, reconstruction pledges, and emergency assistance. But the government’s response at the time was anything but honourable.
1.1 Absence of Transparency
There was no centralised mechanism for receiving funds. Various ministries, politicians, district offices, private accounts, NGOs, and even individuals began collecting funds without unified oversight. As a result:
* Huge sums were never accounted for.
* Political actors used informal bank accounts and personal networks to receive contributions.
* Reporting obligations were ignored or conveniently bypassed.
1.2 Manipulation for Political Gain
Relief distribution was frequently politicised. Allegations emerged of:
* Disaster aid being channelled preferentially to supporters.
* Politicians brand donated goods as personal generosity.
* Government agents are denying equal access to specific communities.
1.3 Audits and Records Lost—or Never Maintained
Investigations later revealed:
* Missing documentation.
* Untraceable transactions.
* No cohesive national ledger of aid received or how it was spent.
The tsunami became a textbook case of how corruption thrives when governance collapses. Even twenty years later, the echo of this betrayal still resonates deeply. It fuelled long-term public distrust and left an indelible mark on the national conscience.
2. The Present Government’s Response: A Radical Departure
Fast-forward to 2025. Cyclone Dithwa emerges as another massive national challenge. Yet the government’s response is dramatically different—structured, disciplined, coordinated, and above all, transparent.
2.1 Clear, Published Instructions by MOFED
On 29 November 2025, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development issued a formal notification titled:
“Instructions for Disaster Relief Contributions for the People Affected by the Emergency Disaster Situation.”
This document:
* Establishes official channels for all contributions.
* Designates Central Bank accounts for receiving funds.
* Sets out reporting, auditing, and oversight requirements.
* Provides detailed instructions for both domestic and international donors.
* Ensures communication across all Sri Lankan High Commissions and Embassies worldwide.
This is the very framework that was missing during the tsunami.
2.2 Coordination Between MOFED and PMD
Unlike the chaotic tsunami response, the current effort demonstrates unified and streamlined communication:
* PMD issues regular updates.
* MOFED coordinates with government missions abroad.
* All communication is centralised, eliminating confusion or duplication.
2.3 Strengthened Foreign Reserves Through Centralised Collection
One of the most strategically intelligent aspects of the system is that all contributions routed through the Central Bank:
* Improve Sri Lanka’s reserve position.
* Strengthen economic stability during a national emergency.
* Enhance international financial confidence.
2.4 Real-Time Updates and Public Information
Where the tsunami era thrived on secrecy, today’s government thrives on visibility:
* Timely updates to the public.
* Regular progress reports.
* Publicly accessible instructions and documentation.
The difference is not merely administrative—it is deeply ethical.
3. Why This Contrast Matters: Trust, Stability, and the Soul of a Nation
Comparing the two responses is not about assigning blame to the past and praise to the present merely for political effect. It is about recognising how deeply governance choices shape the outcomes of disaster management.
3.1 Transparency Creates Trust
During the tsunami:
* Donors became suspicious.
* Communities complained of favouritism.
* International organisations questioned accounting practices.
Today:
* Clarity of process encourages more contributions.
* Diaspora communities feel reassured.
* Global partners can donate with confidence.
3.2 Accountability Prevents Misuse
The tsunami period showed how the absence of oversight invites exploitation. Today, however:
* Funds are audited.
* Transactions are traceable.
* Institutions—not individuals—manage reliefs.
3.3 Unity Over Political Gain
The tsunami response was fractured by political opportunism. In contrast, the present relief effort is designed to:
* Function above party politics.
* Serve citizens equally.
* Build a national response rather than a partisan one.
3.4 Economic Prudence
The tsunami funds often bypassed the Central Bank, weakening economic stability. Today’s government uses a centralised system that strengthens the economy even amidst crisis.
4. What People, Organisations, and Donors Must Do Now
The current system only functions effectively if everyone follows it.
* No parallel fund-collection programmes.
* No political intermediaries.
* No personal accounts for contributions.
The MOFED and PMD guidelines are not optional. They are the backbone of transparency.
Following these instructions:
* Ensures all contributions reach the right place.
* Protects the credibility of the government’s efforts.
* Upholds the principles of fairness, transparency, and accountability.
Independent, unregulated fundraising—however well-intentioned—risks repeating the worst mistakes of the tsunami era.
5. A Government That Has Learned From History
The contrast between the tsunami response and the present disaster relief efforts is stark and undeniable.
Then:
* Fragmentation
* Misuse
* Political opportunism
* Mismanagement
* Lost trust
Now:
* Unified central mechanism
* Clear instructions
* Full transparency
* Audited channels
* Strengthened reserves
* Clear communication
This is not merely a change in procedure—it is a change in governance culture.
Conclusion
Sri Lanka is demonstrating something profoundly important: a government can learn from its past failures and choose a better path.
Where the tsunami response left a stain of dishonesty and unaccountability, the current administration has placed transparency, discipline, and integrity at the centre of the national disaster-relief framework. This shift—visible, tangible, and principled—will not only rebuild homes and communities but also help rebuild something far more fragile: public trust.
If Sri Lanka continues on this path, it will not simply recover from Cyclone Dithwa—it will recover from decades of broken systems and diminished faith in government.
*The writer, among many served as the Special Advisor to the President of Namibia from 2006 to 2012 and was a Senior Consultant with the UNDP for 20 years. He was a Senior Economist with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (1972-1993). He can be reached via asoka.seneviratne@gmail.com
Ajith / December 1, 2025
“If Sri Lanka continues on this path, it will not simply recover from Cyclone Dithwa—it will recover from decades of broken systems and diminished faith in government.”
Most of the authors and various commissions after some disasters whether it is natural disaster or unnatural disasters talk about lessons learned from the disasters. But in reality none of the governments or political institutions (parties) or civil societies do not bother about these reports. I am not sure whether even NPP have a well prepared analysis, discussions and proposals based on the decades of broken systems of governance, rule of law etc. I am not sure whether that both both JVP and other Parties and its team are fully aware of those system changes and why that changes is necessary. Just blaming the rulers or punishing few individuals of past 77 years is not the answer to. the problems of the country or just all are equal propaganda is the solutions to the problems.
/
old codger / December 2, 2025
Ajith,
“I am not sure whether that both both JVP and other Parties and its team are fully aware of those system changes and why that changes is necessary. Just blaming the rulers or punishing few individuals of past 77 years is not the answer to. the problems of the country or just all are equal propaganda is the solutions to the problems.”
Good, you have now realized the truth.
The JVP is as clueless as the rest, and it created some of the mess in 1971 and 1989.
/
Ajith / December 2, 2025
OC,
I have not changed anything before and now. It is true that JVP messed up in 1971 and 1989/90. But, the UNP and SLFP based political parties messed up the country through out past 77 years since 1948. NPP which emerged out of the “Aragalaya” said they have changed. But UNP and SLFP based politicians do not show any signs of change. The people of this country democratically elected them and if they messed up or fail, people have the choice to elect any.
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old codger / December 2, 2025
Ajith,
“NPP which emerged out of the “Aragalaya” said they have changed. …..”
Ajith, get your facts right. The NPP was formed long before the Aragalaya, I think in 2016.
/
Naman / December 1, 2025
“Relief distribution was frequently politicised.”
This happened when the reliefs meant for the North and East were forcibly diverted to the places where the majority race lived.
Professor’s ARTICLE is a bit too early for the SL citizens to praise or credit with. The TIME will tell. Without the adoption of a new CONSTITUTION, the Tamil diaspora aren’t prepared trust a Sinhala Buddhist head. The return of the BUDDHA’s statue in Trinco tells us the NPP government is NOT STANDING UP TO ABIDING WIT THE LAW & OREDER of the country. The RULERS need to keep the religious [clergies] people of all the governmental & non-governmental functions. Disciplining of the Bhikkus should be of prime concern of the rulers.
We all welcome all the locals and international organisations help SL to get over the current CRISES.
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Tony / December 1, 2025
A useless, good for nothing, lying, treasonous satanic government.
/
Wherever JVP(npp) goes, disaster occurs.
/
The so-called commander-in-chief and his thug ministers have never done proper jobs in their whole lives. Now, at his retirement age, he has taken on the responsibility of 22 million people. What a disaster!
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The only life experience JVPers have is organizing public disturbances, destroying public properties, organizing strikes and protests, and setting up ragging in universities.
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The Truth / December 2, 2025
Tony very strong language.!
Everything is in a context..
Ranil W at a TV interview when he was President said that Wijeweera demanded a Cabinet position from Mrs Srimavo Bandaranayake and when she refused launched the 1971 insurrection !
He said he learnt this interesting information from his father Esmund Wickramasinghe who he presented as a learned and reliable source of history !
When does Ranil speak the truth ? When he talks about the Bond scam, when he talks about his trip to London with wife, when he justifies his constant foreign junkets, Trips to Davos, London to see the new King, when he claims extraordinary knowledge on economics, when he addresses political meetings, when he talks to his supposed friends -When does he speak the truth ?
Everything happens in context. Even Tony comes in a context
/
Lester / December 2, 2025
“When does Ranil speak the truth ? “
Is CT any different? Here you have LTTE supporters giving advice on human rights. And the used goods salesman in Kandy who claims to have 8 or 9 different areas of expertise, but did an Olympic-level high jump to exit after Brexit. Yet such charlatans are able to amass a large following. I would attribute it at least partially to the greater fool theory. In my hand, I hold a fake diamond. But if I convince you it’s genuine, you’ll pay a premium. Now if I convince 100K idiots its genuine, my profit is compounded 100x in the style of Lalith K, as they will bid higher. By the time you realize it’s a scam, I’ll be in Singapore, hiding behind extradition laws, a la Arjuna Mahendran/Harjan Alexander.
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old codger / December 1, 2025
“Transparency & Accountability In Disaster Relief: A New Era After Decades Of Misuse”
Wow!
Another deluge of Sadhus from Prof. ASS.
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leelagemalli / December 2, 2025
Dear OC,
would any effort made assist if the individual is insane and too old to understand even thrivial stuff ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0phrdX2-98
They will now blame someone else or find it difficult to acknowledge their own shortcomings.
However, the reality is that hundreds of innocent individuals nationwide have died from AKD due to its inexperience.
/
nimal fernando / December 2, 2025
Haven’t seen comments from LS and SJ …… hope they are safe.
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old codger / December 2, 2025
Nimal,
SJ is OK. LS and DTG are missing.
/
leelagemalli / December 2, 2025
Dear Rational Thinkers,
What analysts conclude — the disaster had both a “natural + man-made/governance” dimension
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From the collected sources above, a few common conclusions emerge:
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Warnings and risk-assessments existed before the cyclone — including evacuation alerts for landslides and reservoir overflow.
Source: World Socialist Web Site
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But many warnings were either not communicated broadly (especially not in minority languages like Tamil) or delivered too late to allow safe evacuation.
Source: tamilguardian.com
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Source: The New Indian Express
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Institutional failures — inadequate evacuation infrastructure, poor shelter planning, lack of coordinated rescue logistics, insufficient translation/communication, and under-resourced disaster-management systems — significantly increased the human toll.
Source: The United Nations Office at Geneva
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Source: The New Indian Express
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Source: World Socialist Web Site
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Long-standing issues like under-investment in disaster preparedness, weak enforcement of flood-prevention laws, substandard maintenance of irrigation and drainage systems, and poor urban planning — all of them exacerbated the disaster’s effects.
Source: World Socialist Web Site
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Many analysts frame the outcome not as an “unavoidable natural disaster,” but as a “governance disaster” — meaning that a substantial portion of the suffering and loss could likely have been prevented with effective policies, timely action, and inclusive communication.
Source: The New Indian Express
Source: World Socialist Web Site
/
LankaScot / December 2, 2025
Hello Leelagemalli,
We have just (1 hour ago) returned from 1 week’s experience of the Stone Age. We lost Electrical Power and due to that also lost Mains Water on Monday of last week. We also lost Mobile Phone Service until an hour ago. I haven’t caught up with the latest news yet, however it seemed to us that the opening of the Kotmale Dam caused the worst damage to Gampola and Kandy. Gelioya was known for flooding due to the small river Geli which flows under the Main Road. This burst its Banks and flooded all the shops along the Main Road in the Town Centre. I saw the poor devastated Shop-Keepers and Staff shoveling out the Mud and destroyed goods yesterday. I also saw multiple Landslide destruction of the Electrical Infrastructure, small shops, roads etc. Despite having 2 Water Tanks we soon ran out helping those neighbours without Tanks. So for the last 3 or 4 days we have been ferrying water from the local well. It tastes better than the Water Board’s supply, but we still boil it just in case. Today we saw quite a few Helicopters passing overhead.
Lots of lessons to learn.
Best regards
/
Lester / December 3, 2025
“Lots of lessons to learn.”
While pontificating on the electrical grid, water facilities, topography, comm network, etc. And claiming to be Mother Teresa. Even natural disasters can’t curb the ego of some.
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nutliar / December 3, 2025
Darling Lessie,
“While pontificating on the electrical grid, ……..”
And what are you doing, tweety-bird ? So many have lost their nuts (among other things) to the storm. Have you even tried to supply prosthetic nuts to these poor people? How many minors have you “taken care of”?
What you gonna do about the thrashing you got from Leonard the other day? Pretty humiliating, eh? It must have hurt when Leonard beat you to the last comment.
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chiv / December 4, 2025
Nutliar 😅🤣😀
/
Lester / December 4, 2025
Low IQ toilet cleaner “Chiv” is laughing at Beach Boy Old Pervert’s gobbledegook. Does Old Pervert know where his mother was on the night of 21st May, 1952… do the nuts belong to the bus driver or the neighbor 😅🤣😀
/
leelagemalli / December 3, 2025
Dear Lankascot, thank you.
Good to hear from you again. I am relieved now.. We were concerned about not being able to read from you all of a sudden. I received a few phone calls enquiring about you. Because I was away from my native nation, everything I saw on TV screens was terrible. The way the people were forced to face such a calamity might have been avoided if the rulers had done their jobs correctly. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the government should have taken precautionary measures. They were simply neglected in practically every aspect, yet they worked tirelessly to strengthen their party. Now, practically everyone in and out of the country is beginning to recognize that Jeppos are the true blight on this country.
Can you fathom the amount of inexperience in government? In fact, even influential ministers have complained on Facebook about not having enough boats to aid people in flooded areas. Had they been prepared for the calamity, they may have asked the fishermen to give them the boats. There are enough boats, according to experts in Negombo and other fishing regions on the island.
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leelagemalli / December 3, 2025
Dear LS,
Please view the video below. Please seek assistance from your loving wife.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKiwddb4GxM
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If precautionary measures had been implemented, 80% of the Gampola deaths may have been avoided. What kind of bastard-led government is this?
We reiterated the men several times that AKD was not suitable for running a roadside shop. However, our indifferent nation was made perpetual idiots.
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leelagemalli / December 3, 2025
Dear Readers ,
Prima facie evidence suggesting that AKD led leadership did not act on WEATHER predictions and minimized it for prioratising his party matters. Here’s the evidence. Please watch this video to see how previous President Gotabaya prepared the people for a flood or hurricane.
Please watch the video from the to the 7th to 10th minute.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk3lMS8sJ_c&t=400s
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People and professionals alike are harshly criticising the AKD’s leadership today.
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SJ / December 3, 2025
LS
Living on secure territory we do not appreciate the pain of others.
Some even relish it.
/
Ajith / December 2, 2025
“Dear Rational Thinkers,”
The above words” Rational thinkers” means who thinks speaks act unbiasedly rightly. In this context, we need to talk about this small island with a people of two languages and four major religions. almost all the religions are brought by invaders of this island. Similarly two groups of people speak two different languages. Is it right to think one religion is superior to other or one race is superior to other or one language is superior to other?
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Lester / December 3, 2025
Is it rational to ask for 33% of the country’s landmass based on a race riot and language policy? Does wearing a suicide vest add further validation?
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Lester / December 3, 2025
When Singapore was carved out of Malaya, the total landmass was only about 0.18%. If the Chinese from Guangdong (average IQ 108) had gotten even 20%, Singapore today would resemble something like Japan. Since Malaysia falls into the domain of “religion of peace/pieces.” You know what that means.
Assuming Tamils had gotten their Eelam, it would likely resemble Somalia. The Gandhi’s are very powerful in India. The LTTE was designated a terror group by 33 countries. Velu was a wanted man on Interpol. International sanctions would cripple any economic growth. North Koreans are brilliant people, but they are eating grass because of sanctions.
So, Rajapakse did a favor to Tamils by ending this fake freedom struggle. Tamils should follow the path of Germans and distance themselves from a psychopath.
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nutliar / December 3, 2025
“Assuming Tamils had gotten their Eelam, it would likely resemble Somalia. “
Says Lester the liar.
The per capita income of Sri Lanka is about 4000 USD and going south.
The per capita income of Tamilnadu is ₹315,220, or approximately $5,432 USD in 2025,
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chiv / December 4, 2025
Nutliar 😅🤣😂
/
chiv / December 4, 2025
By the way
Mr. Nutliar
I have blocked you still I’m laughing.
😅🤣😂
/
Lester / December 4, 2025
You can’t make this up:
Myron Gaines (who is Sudanese) Tells Indian Student He “Stinks”
Transcript
0:00
You said Indians stink, right? So, I
0:01
stink.
0:02
Uh, there’s a high likelihood you
0:03
probably didn’t put on deodorant today.
0:04
Yes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m-gQQnT74E
Considering Modi’s campaign pledge was to build more toilets… I have been to India and the place smells like an open sewer.
Indian’s don’t deny it.
“In this essay from 2007 , renowned writer Mukul Kesavan writes that ‘Indian men are not born ugly. They achieve ugliness through practice.’ “
But women think they are also born ugly.
Indian men are very ugly. Here in the USA, no woman would consider dating them because Indians are the bottom of the barrel. White, Asian and Hispanic women find them to be dirty, ugly, and gross. I think they stink and need to wear deodorant.
https://www.quora.com/Are-Indian-men-as-good-looking-as-those-from-other-countries
😅🤣😂
/
Mallaiyuran / December 4, 2025
Nutliar,
South Korea’s GDP was comparable to Ceylon at the start of the 1950s. During the period after the government was handed over to Lester’s great-great uncle, the Christian Buddhist Don Stephen, and Great aunty Siri Amma O, who reduced the Ceylon to Sri Lanka and the Lester’s wappa Old Rowdy King, who sold Sri Lanka to China and renamed as Langkang, the Langkang GDP did not grow to cover the inflation. (Langkang RS fell from $2.50 cts to $312.50 (Remember, even accepting that rupee fall is meaningless until AKD administration pays it first loan installment in 2028. Even that has a condition attached to it like the natural disasters, and government disasters like 1983, 2009, 2022 and 2025 has to be accounted for. You have to run the government hoping none of them will repeat, because the government has no money to spend on this disaster and has no way to have a reserve account for an emergency that can happen before 2028. They say in Tamils, the termites think that “by now we might have raised our hill to sky height if the destructive rain had not fallen”. But that rain, Termites need for their food and make clay to build their hill.
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Mallaiyuran / December 4, 2025
There is small money in the foreign exchange reserve. It sounds like the government looks at it as a last resort. Then you have no idea how the loan payment will start. In any case, there is no way the government will balance this loss in its budget for years to come. We have to wait and see the NPP’s recovery actions. That is now established, without doubt, has to be over and above the dirtiest opposition ever existed in the world’s democratic history. There was no practical opposition until recently. During Yahapalanaya, a UNP- SLFP Union government, even Sampanthar Aiyya or AKD did not provide opposition against rulers. But during Ceylon’s worst natural disaster, the opposition is turning over even every pebble in the fields, hoping to capture the government. Is this because of the Kandy Ayatollah’s Dharma preaching?
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Mallaiyuran / December 4, 2025
But in the meantime, SK income has grown to $2T. This is information Lester has repeatedly recorded in CT. SK faced the devastating unavoidable wars to be taken over by failed USSR agents. Langkang during that time created civil wars by the Galoya project, Indian Pakistani Citizenship Acts, MMDA, Sinhala Only, Standardizations…., and annual celebrations called Pogroms. Then used the civil war to fund Old Rowdy’s foreign accounts while the country was in a $110B loan. Let me ask one question, in your GDP counting, where did you count Old Rowdy’s $30B and its income. To Ugandan GDP where the media reported Gananathan’s plane took, or USA, Seychelles, UK, Belarus, Dubai…. Where was it being invested? But TN’s case, while Lester renamed it to the satisfaction of Kandy Ayatollahs’. after deducting Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha took, remaining was invested in the local projects, and it has been growing very well for the benefit of TN Tamils, so forget about whatever the actual GDP reported on whatever the fiat currency.
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Lester / December 5, 2025
Becoming wealthy is not simply a matter of people slaving away in factories. The machines in the factories require inputs. That is why the Europeans sailed all over the world, exploiting indigenous people for natural resources. Natural resources which became the basis for the Industrial Revolution. Obviously you cannot run a machine with tea. But if you bring slave labor from South India to grow/harvest the tea, the labor cost is very low. You sell the tea for a premium to aristocrats in Europe and then use the difference to subsidize the construction of large factories in Europe.
The other point is administration/organization of labor. The British were very good at this. They created coolie classes through bribery. For undesirable work (such as plantations) they used the equivalent of slave labor. Not only in Sri Lanka, but in the Caribbean and other places as well.
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Lester / December 5, 2025
The last point is innovation. Stupid people cannot innovate. Besides the fact that IQ is normalized (this is a fact), 15% of the US GDP comes from just Silicon Valley. Most of the top technology companies are run by Brahmins, Jews, or Chinese (Nvda, AMD, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, etc). All of India’s top scientific achievements are due to Brahmins (5% of the population). Only China and Russia can compete with the West for influence, check IMO performance. Because of Velu’s war, you had a brain drain in Sri Lanka. Do you think trash such as Old Codger can innovate? Garbage like this is only good for cleaning floors.
Without clever people, Sri Lanka cannot move forward. But there is no incentive for them to return. The best case scenario now is that within 20-30 years, the cost of automation becomes very low. Through automation, the GDP can then be increased significantly. Or even if it cannot be increased significantly (as a % of global GDP), it can reach the level where very few people are not living in poverty, due to surpluses in output.
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Rohan25 / December 3, 2025
It is not 33% but around 27% to 30% of the landmass, and this has always been Tamil, never Sinhalese occupied until after the so-called Independence, when hundreds of thousands of outside Sinhalese were deliberately settled in the north and east, to change the demography, especially in the eastern Trincomalee and Amapari districts. The Tamil people have continuously lived and occupied these lands for over 2,300 years, and before European colonisation, these lands were ruled by Tamil kings and chiefs. From time to time, they may have come under some so-called Sinhalese kings for a short time, especially in the east, after the fall of the Jaffna kingdom, compared to the longer period of Tamil kings and chiefs ruling the Sinhalese lands. Still, the Tamil Saivite character of these lands was always recognised, even by the Sinhalese rulers. This is why the Tamil-origin Sinhalese king of Kotte, called Sapumal Kumaraya or Chenpaka Perumal, built the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil in Nallur, Jaffna and not some Buddhist Vihara when he ruled the north for a short period.
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Lester / December 4, 2025
The 33% figure is correct. In fact, the real goal was not 33% but 100%. That is how fascism operates.
There was never a Tamil majority on the island. Without a majority, the rest of the argument about Tamils being indigenous and conversion from A–>B fails. For example, according to census data, in 1880, there were there were 4,374,137 Sinhalese and 704763 non-Indian Tamils on the island.
The argument about Sinhalese originally being Tamils is also nonsense. As Tamil is a Dravidian language and Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language. There are more borrowed words from Portugese than Tamil in Sinhala.
If the reverse were true – Tamil being a dominant language – then you could make a case about conversion.
When you look at the archeology, the same conclusion holds. The only Tamil influence, besides the ancient Sinhalese cities they burned and sacked, you see is some small stone statue, from a king occasionally marrying a Pandyan princess. This alliance was necessary to fight off Chola invaders.
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Rohan25 / December 4, 2025
Continue posting your fake history and misinformation. You really are a treat, even at this time, beating the racist drum.
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Lester / December 4, 2025
You are the one who lost the fake freedom struggle. Now crying here. Better learn Arabic and hide your daughters in the closet.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g12901434-d23908659-Reviews-Al_Aqsa_Grand_Jumma_Masjith-Kattankudy_Eastern_Province.html
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SJ / December 4, 2025
L has not switched on the thumb machine, but has unwittingly opened the gates of a sewer tank.
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Rohan25 / December 3, 2025
And the Sinhalese Tamil rulers of Kandy, who had loose control of the Tamil east, south of Trincomalee, after the fall of the Jaffna kingdom, always patronised Tamil and Hinduism in these areas and dealt with the Tamil chiefs here in Tamil, and they considered him a Tamil Hindu, which he really was. This soon ended with the Dutch capturing the east. The last independent Tamil kingdoms and chiefdoms to fall were not in India but in the north and east of the island. The Kingdom of Jaffna in 1595 was ceded to the Portuguese, and the last bastion of Tamil freedom was lost around 1795 or early 1800s, when Pandara Vanniyan lost most of the Vanni to the Dutch or British. After independence, various Sinhalese governments and fake historians tried to distort history and claim Tamil Chief Pandara Vannian as a Sinhalese by calling him Vanni Bandara, but they failed. So what has the LTTE got to do with these ancient and historical facts, and just claim a Tamil homeland in these areas?
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Rohan25 / December 3, 2025
These lands have been Tamil for over 2500 years, continuously occupied and ruled by them until European colonisation. Even your racist Ideological Sinhalese Buddhist part fairy tale and part historical fiction, has recognised the ancient Tamil character of these lands and has constantly referred to the lands to the north and east of the island as Tamil lands. All European colonial governments and rulers recognised these lands as Tamil, the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British and constantly referred to them as Tamil land. When the British created the Tamil North and Eastern provinces and called them the Tamil lands, the two Tamil provinces. They created them out of lands, on which the Sinhalese had not even the remotest historical or any other claim to what the Sinhalese claim; the British always favoured the Sinhalese and any Sinhalese claim to land or anything was looked upon favourably by the British over Tamil claims or interests. As such, large parts of the once Tamil lands from the north and east were taken out and were merged with the newly created Sinhalese North Western and North Central provinces, Padaviya and Thamban Kadavai( now called Tamma kaduwa) to the north central and other areas to the north west. Especially in the coastal Chilaw Puttalam areas,
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Rohan25 / December 3, 2025
Therefore, what is now called the north and east are the ancient Tamil lands to which the Sinhalese had no claims whatsoever, but are now unfairly using their majority, the resources of the state, the Sinhalese armed forces and fake history being concocted by the fake Archaeological Department to claim, large amounts of ancient, strategic and fertile lands in the north and east as Sinhalese too and are deliberately settling Sinhalese here. These racist cries that it is unfair that the Tamil homeland is around 1/3 of the island’s landmass, which was deliberately started by the racist recent South Indian Tamil immigrant origin, JR Jeyawardene, after the 1983 pogrom that his government orchestrated. How dare they demand all this land for themselves when the native Tamils are only around 12-13% and we Sinhalese are around 70%? And then Sinhalese racists and extremists jumped on this and constantly started to quote this. What he or they forget to mention is that this has always been Tamil land from 2500 years onwards, and has been recognised as their land by all colonial rulers and by local and international agreements, irrespective of whether they are 12-13%. Tamil speakers on the island are around 25% and Sinhalese speakers are around 75%, so what is the problem? Sinhalese own around 70% of the land and the fertile parts, whilst the Tamil homeland is around 25% is largely arid land. They never mention all this or conveniently omit all these facts.
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Rohan25 / December 3, 2025
Therefore, what is now called the north and east are the ancient Tamil lands to which the Sinhalese had no claims whatsoever, but are now unfairly using their majority, the resources of the state, the Sinhalese armed forces and fake history being concocted by the fake Archaeological Department to claim, large amounts of ancient, strategic and fertile lands in the north and east as Sinhalese too and are deliberately settling Sinhalese here. These racist cries that it is unfair that the Tamil homeland is around 1/3 of the island’s landmass, which was deliberately started by the racist recent South Indian Tamil immigrant origin, JR Jeyawardene, after the 1983 pogrom that his government orchestrated. How dare they demand all this land for themselves when the native Tamils are only around 12-13% and we Sinhalese are around 70%? And then Sinhalese racists and extremists jumped on this and constantly started to quote this.
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Rohan25 / December 3, 2025
What he or they forget to mention is that this has always been Tamil land from 2500 years onwards, and has been recognised as their land by all colonial rulers and by local and international agreements, irrespective of whether they are 12-13%. Tamil speakers on the island are around 25% and Sinhalese speakers are around 75%, so what is the problem? Sinhalese own around 70% of the land and the fertile parts, whilst the Tamil homeland is around 25% is largely arid land. They never mention all this or conveniently omit all these facts.
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SJ / December 3, 2025
Read some serious history.
Prof. K Indrapala is the most informed and sane SL Tamil historian around
His book has been an eye opener for many victims of bigoted interpretations.
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Rohan25 / December 4, 2025
Constantly trolling cyberbullying self-hating snake, please also read what Prof. K Indrapala recently stated, before commenting
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SJ / December 4, 2025
Cite one utterance from KI supporting the N&E nonsense of yours.
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Rohan25 / December 4, 2025
The only nonsense with a sick sewer brain is you, with some sort of pathological, sick, hateful obsession towards me and the need to constantly troll through all my comments and make stupid, spiteful remarks and ultimately make a fool of yourself, which in turn makes you even more vindictive and spiteful towards me. You indeed are a very sad person.
Professor K. Indrapala was a prominent historian of Sri Lankan Tamils who focused on their ancient history and identity, arguing they have a shared history with the Sinhalese people and are native to the island. His work, including the book The Evolution of an Ethnic Identity: The Tamils in Sri Lanka, challenged the notion of external origins by meticulously studying ancient inscriptions, discovering ancient Hindu temples, and conducting archaeological excavations to establish the presence of a distinct Sri Lankan Tamil identity rooted in the island itself.
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Rohan25 / December 4, 2025
K. Indrapala’s key contributions
Shared ancestry and evolution: Indrapala argued that the Sinhalese and Tamils share common ancestors and a common prehistoric history, with the primary differences evolving through language and religious shifts over centuries.
Archaeological and epigraphical research: He conducted extensive research by exploring jungles in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, discovering numerous Tamil inscriptions and ancient Hindu temples that provided evidence for early Tamil settlement.
Establishment of academic institutions: He was instrumental in establishing the history and archaeology departments at the University of Jaffna and founded the university’s archaeological museum.
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Rohan25 / December 4, 2025
The Evolution of an Ethnic Identity”: His major publication argued for a distinct Sri Lankan Tamil identity, drawing on his lifetime of research to demonstrate its deep roots on the island.
Focus on Sri Lankan Tamil identity: He emphasised that the Sri Lankan Tamils are not simply descendants of migrants from South India but have a unique identity forged over two millennia through a process of evolution, cultural diffusion, and the adoption of different religions over time. Stop making an idiot of yourself.
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Rohan25 / December 4, 2025
The Evolution of an Ethnic Identity: The Tamils of Sri Lanka C. 300 BCE to C. 1200 CE By K Indrapala
This long-awaited publication embodies the research of a lifetime undertaken by Dr K Indrapala from the time he started his career as an academic in the University of Ceylon in 1960. It gives shape to his long-held, though often controversial, views that the Sinhalese and Tamils of Sri Lanka are descended from common ancestors who lived in the country in prehistoric and protohistoric times and have a shared history going back over two thousand years. He argues that through a process of language replacement, the north Indian Prakrit dialects spread among the vast majority of the people, paving the way for the evolution of Sinhalese, while Tamil became the dominant language in some parts of the island, leading to the emergence of Sri Lankan Tamil.Buddhism, though at first common to both groups, later became a religion associated with the Sinhalese.
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Rohan25 / December 4, 2025
The rule of the Cola dynasty in the 11th century paved the way for the rise of Saivism among the Tamils. In the end, Buddhism disappeared completely as a religion of the Sri Lankan Tamils, and Saivism assumed dominance among them. The result was that religion, in addition to language, became a marker of ethnic identity. This research covers the period up to 1200, by which time the process of evolution had more or less stabilised, and the chance of one absorbing the other had eventually receded, although assimilation of elements of one group into the other continued
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SJ / December 4, 2025
The claim of a N&E entity is crap and Indrpala is not a subscriber to nonsense like “this has always been Tamil land from 2500 years onwards,”
Read KI on how an ethnic territorial distinction emerged and when.
Cite him specifically to support your bogus claims.
*
“Pandara Vannian” came from Bandara a title given to the Vanni chief who was a subject of the Kandyan Kingdom.
*
There was no ethnic identity for any of the island’s kingdoms for very long. Rulers had but that did not coincide with that of the ruled.
*
I can go on.
But it is a waste of time to rebut every racist falsehood.
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SJ / December 4, 2025
“The rule of the Cola dynasty in the 11th century paved the way for the rise of Saivism among the Tamils. “
Interesting.
Konesvaram and Ketheesvaram are referred to by Sampanthar of the 6th or 7th Century. Saivaisam was not the dominant Tamil faith then?
Buddhism faded in ‘Tamilnadu’ without Chola impact.
Saiva v Buddhist debates were predominantly in Pandya not Chola country.
“The relationship between the Cholas and Buddhism was complex, marked by both support for Buddhist institutions and destruction of Buddhist sites. While the Chola Empire was officially Hindu, it supported the construction of a Buddhist monastery and demonstrated a degree of religious tolerance by donating to various faiths. However, during their imperial expansion, particularly under rulers like Rajaraja I and Rajendra I, Chola invasions of places like Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura also led to the destruction of Buddhist sites. ” (AI extract)
That may pass some sense across a bone wall.
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SJ / December 4, 2025
Do red faces hate serious history or Indrapala or both?
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Rohan25 / December 5, 2025
Bandara: Son of a chief or nobleman, prince, a term used only in the Kandian provinces (Sinhala, Clough); prince, “Rāja kumārayā”; treasurer, “Bhāṇḍāgārikayā”; son of an up-country cultivation caste chief, “Uḍaraṭa govikulayē pradhānayangē putrayā” (Sinhala, Sorata); Baṇḍā: son, boy, youth, son of a chief (Sinhala, Clough); term to call a youth of the up-country cultivation caste, “Uḍaraṭa govikulayehi lamayinda kiyana nama” (Sinhala, Sorata); Bańḍārain: king (Dhivehi/ Maldivian, DBF); Paṇṭāri: a title of the Uṭaiyār (land owner) caste (Tamil, MTL); Paṇṭāram: treasury (Tamil, late Caṅkam diction, Paripāṭal, 11: 123); granary, government, a facility that is public or belonging to the State, (Tamil, MTL, there are many other shades of meanings from different etyma); princely title during the times of the Kingdom of Jaffna (Eezham Tamil); Bhāṇḍāgāra: treasury (Sanskrit, CDIAL 9442); traced to Bhāṇḍa: pot, dish, vessel, ornament, wares (Sanskrit, CDIAL 9440); Paṇṭam: belly, paunch (Tamil, DED 3898); various commodities (Tamil, Caṅkam diction, Maturaikkāñci, 81)
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Rohan25 / December 5, 2025
Baṇḍāra, meaning a prince or a noble son of the Sinhala cultivation caste of up-country in the island, has parallels in the term Paṇṭāri, being a title of the Uṭaiyār (land owner) caste in a Tamil Nadu usage (MTL); Paṇṭāram used as a title of the royal princes of the Kingdom of Jaffna; the term meaning government and public facility in some obsolete usages in Tamil and Eezham Tamil (MTL) and Bańḍārain meaning king in Dhivehi/ Maldivian (DBF). The usages are traced to Bhāṇḍāgāra, meaning treasury, and in turn Bhāṇḍa, meaning pot and hence wares in Sanskrit. examples, Changkili-veera-pa’ndaaram, Paranirupasingka-pa’ndaaram, Pa’ndaara-vanniyan etc. Again got caught out
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Rohan25 / December 5, 2025
Red faces mean everyone knows that you are a pathetic, trolling psycho case, trying to misinterpret history. What has the antiquity of ancient Saivite temples like Thirukeetheswaram and Thirukoneswaram got to do with what Prof. Indrapala wrote and the impact of Saivaism and Buddhism among ancient Tamils? You can go and fight with him. You were the one who quoted him, and when you got caught, trying to twist the truth and nitpick. When I quote the relationship between Tamil and Sanskrit, it is from what the Professor of Tamil, George Hart, from the University of California, Berkley, stated. George Luzerne Hart, III (born c. 1942) is Professor Emeritus of Tamil language at the University of California, Berkeley.His work focuses on the classical Tamil literature and on identifying the relationships between the Tamil and Sanskrit literature. In 2015, the Government of India awarded him the title of Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour.
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Rohan25 / December 5, 2025
Hart received his PhD in Sanskrit from Harvard University in 1971. He has also studied Latin and Greek as well as several modern European and Indian languages. He taught Sanskrit at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before joining the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, where he founded the Department of Tamil. Hart is best known for his translations of several Tamil epics into English and for his argument that Tamil is a classical language, a status that the Government of India formally accorded it on 18 September 2004. Hart is also the author of several Tamil and Sanskrit textbooks. Since you know better than these learned people, go and quarrel with them too. Pathetic.
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Rohan25 / December 5, 2025
This is like when I commented here that many Western names for certain spices originate from Tamil, as the ancient Tamils controlled the spice trade, and the word Orange, derives from the Tamil word Naran. As usual, pathetic you, were trying to be smart, were poking fun at me until you got caught out. You are trying to make everything personal.
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SJ / December 5, 2025
“This is like when I commented here that many Western names for certain spices originate from Tamil, as the ancient Tamils controlled the spice trade, and the word Orange, derives from the Tamil word Naran. “
Read my response and do not draw a red herring as usual.
*
I insisted that the word Narang could not have originated in Tamil giving strong supporting reason. That was all to it.
*
You could not cite the first use of that word in Tamil and were
pathetically silenced.
Now you try wriggle your way out of the soil like a soft cylindrical body.
Don’t be pathetic.
/
Native Vedda / December 3, 2025
Lester
–
“Is it rational to ask for 33% of the country’s landmass based on a race riot and language policy?”
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Whose country are we even talking about? It is unfortunate that two groups—both descendants of early settlers, both now speaking external languages and following outside influences—are fighting over land that originally belonged to the ancient inhabitants of this region. What a shame.
If these descendants are unhappy living here, they should consider returning to their ancestral homeland in South India, where their political and cultural counterparts would likely welcome them.
And considering that Tamil Nadu is currently thriving and attracting many migrants from northern India, it should not be difficult for Tamil Nadu to support their long-lost southern relatives.
–
Please let me know the date of your return I can arrange a repatriation package for your people.
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SJ / December 3, 2025
” two groups of people speak two different languages”
Three groups speak one language in vastly differing dialects.
The other language unified itself nicely over the past century, thanks to a healthy attitude to language.
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leelagemalli / December 2, 2025
Apologies,:
From the collected sources, a few common conclusions emerge:
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nimal fernando / December 3, 2025
“DTG are missing.”
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He must be busy building the ark! :)))
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Everything about him is biblical!
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old codger / December 3, 2025
Nimal,
At least, this time he won’t need to get accommodate dinosaurs.
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LankaScot / December 3, 2025
Hello OC,
I hope that DTG is safe and well, however if he is busy with an Ark, let’s ask him to gather up all the Dinosaurs like Sajith etc. and debark them somewhere with fresh water, and unpopulated, like Antartica.
Best regards
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SJ / December 4, 2025
oc
Let sleeping dinosaurs lie.
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LankaScot / December 3, 2025
Hello OC, Nimal, Chiv, Native etc ….
Thank you all very much. We are all safe up in the mountains, however many lower down have been severely affected. Gelioya Town centre has been swamped by muddy storm floods – the shops are no more. All of their stocks and frontages are no more. Many roads have been undercut by storm rains. Gampola is also very bad. Dialog Towers were also out of action, no mobiles for a week. We are just going to replenish supplies, still no water.
Best regards
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chiv / December 3, 2025
LS, relieved to hear you’ll are safe.
Hope, things will gradually return to a semblance of normalcy.
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Native Vedda / December 3, 2025
chiv
–
“Hope, things will gradually return to a semblance of normalcy.”
–
You mean normalcy as prior to 21 September 2024?
Oh no.
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leelagemalli / December 4, 2025
“Do you mean normalcy prior to September 21, 2024?”
Oh no.”
–
Jeppos is well-known for being good organizers, but why have they failed to provide adequate meals in affected areas? I spoke with a young undergraduate in Wattala this evening, who stated that his families and neighbors were able to obtain food. They have only eaten biscuits for the entire day.
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SJ / December 2, 2025
“Relief distribution was frequently politicised.”
Stolen more than politicized.
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Native Vedda / December 3, 2025
“Stolen more than politicized.”
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Politicised and stolen which provides the crooks with wider impunity.
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leelagemalli / December 3, 2025
Mr SJ,
They are genetically predisposed to steal. So they can’t help but continue. Are NPPrs not performing the same job?They attempt to appear that they are clean, but the majority of them are not. Is AKD clean? If the answer is true, why didn’t she appoint the director of the disaster commission, even though he had already made a gazette notification?
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leelagemalli / December 4, 2025
why didn’t he appoint the director of the disaster commission, even though he had already made a gazette notification?
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ramona therese fernando / December 3, 2025
I’m sending it directly to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED)!
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ramona therese fernando / December 3, 2025
Praying for the suffering people of the Motherland🙏🙏🙏😢. May their sufferings be eased. The government must now build stormwater drains for every area of construction that comes up, and also undertake massive reforestation drives
…..IMF loan repayements to be halted for a few decades with no interest on them.
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leelagemalli / December 4, 2025
Dear sensitive readers,
This is not the first time Sri Lanka has faced various natural catastrophes.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaTEq9Kbbf4
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.1) In December 2004, a tsunami struck the nation, killing around 30,000 people or more.
2) April 2019: A bombing on Easter Sunday killed almost 300 people and injured many more.
3) Unexpected flooding occurs in November/December 2025, killing thousands. However, the figures are not yet apparent. And the government hides the numbers.
–
This is why PEOPLE should know that ANURA KUMARA DISANAYAKA, the country’s current president, did not act beforehand. Experts, it is past time for you to look into this and charge these men.
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SJ / December 4, 2025
“IMF loan repayements to be halted for a few decades with no interest on them”
That is comic relief!
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old codger / December 4, 2025
SJ,
Ramona for President!!
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
Why not? These floods are a very good reason/excuse for us to withhold payments. There must be some clause in the agreements accounting for natural disasters.
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SJ / December 5, 2025
oc
“Ramona for President!”
“Why not?”
She seems to take herself a little seriously.
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ramona therese fernando / December 6, 2025
Sj…the seriousness was about the halting of IMF loans. The first part of Oc’s statement didn’t register.
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ramona therese fernando / December 6, 2025
Sj,….Oc’s statement didn’t register with me, I mean……I was concentrating on the imf part.
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LankaScot / December 4, 2025
Hello Ramona,
From my front door I can see across the Valley where a sizeable portion of the upper mountain has detached itself and slid down uprooting many trees on the way. When the ground is saturated with 5 days (or more) of constant torrential rain it becomes unstable and extremely liable to slippage. Metamorphic rocks (very prevalent in Central Sri Lanka) are particularly liable to weakness along their Layers. These were formed from sedimentary rocks that have been subjected to heat and pressure. The Petrol Station at Peradeniya suffered a Rock Landslide a few years ago. Hiru News has a Video of a Shop collapsing at Peradeniya – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-tJsNVNDJo
The weathering of these rocks produces particular types of soil.
No amount of Storm Drains or Reforestation will prevent such a disaster from happening again, however Geotechnical Engineers will have much better knowledge than me and may be able to suggest methods to alleviate the effects.
Best regards
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ramona therese fernando / December 4, 2025
LankaScot,….if building roads and businesses in those areas, the hills and mountains need to be reinforced with vegetation that has binding roots, and/or with steel or concrete rods like what is used in building construction. What about the flat town and city resedential areas far from the mountains that have flooded with much loss of life, property, and business?
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LankaScot / December 5, 2025
Hello Ramona,
I am here, I see what has happened. Would Storm Drains have helped those “flat town and city resedential [sic] areas far from the mountains” ? Where would the Water go?
Despite having no water, no electricity, no Mobile Service and a broken road that we couldn’t risk driving the car down, I consider us as the lucky ones. At least we survived and still have roofs over our heads.
Since my first visit in 2013 to Gelioya I have seen regular flooding in the Town, but this one was unprecedented. Gelioya is not affected by the Mahawelli Ganga; it was the excessive rainfall cascading down from the mountains that wiped out the homes and shops. Sri Lanka is not the only Country affected, have you not read (or watched) any reports from other areas of the East e.g. Indonesia?
People need help not useless advice from afar.
Best regards
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Douglas / December 5, 2025
LS: Thank you for giving a brief account of how the ‘Destruction’ of ‘Nature’ leads to disasters, as you see for yourself in your own environment. But, a few days back, a ‘Prominent’ social activist, Asela Sampath, the President of the Bakers’ Association, appeared on a social media platform and said:
” All the disasters that fell on Kandy District were the result of thousands of devotees who walked into the chamber to worship the ‘Tooth Relic,’ with ‘Uncleaned Mouths,’ (Kunu Kela) as a result of the President AKD organizing this exposition and compelling the devotees to spend sleepless nights in the line.
Another ‘Man-Made’ disaster against Nature?
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LankaScot / December 5, 2025
Hello Douglas,
Will someone please ask Asela Sampath what sort of God/Gods punishes a Country for not brushing their teeth? I was in Kandy a few times during these visits and saw the lines of people (with no facilities organised) waiting patiently. There are some in Sr Lanka that couldn’t “Organise a P*ss-up in a Brewery”.
Climate change seems to be a real factor, but the results are (so far) not very predictable as to how the local weather in various parts of the World will behave. Back in 1968 Glasgow suffered extensive damage and some Deaths https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Scotland_storm
These sort of events have become fairly common in South Asia and other parts of the World.
Best regards
/
Lester / December 5, 2025
Can’t blame this one on Jews. The antisemites must be severely disappointed.
“I have looked into the most philosophical systems and have found none that will not work without God.” – JC Maxwell
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Lester / December 5, 2025
*will work
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old codger / December 5, 2025
Douglas,
Surely you know better than than to take Asela Sampath, the clown-for-hire , seriously? There is another clown who claims to be the President of the “Electricity Consumer’s Association ” as if such an organisation is even possible. Both were avid AKD supporters last year.
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leelagemalli / December 5, 2025
Dear OC and all other sensitive readers,
Let us give Douglas and the other erstwhile blood suckers some more time to see it right, but all parties should come together in this time of grief for this country, whose people have been struck to the core by another awful calamity. Incompetent ruling parties should listen to the opposition; enough is enough.
–
When I read some of the comments on this and other forums, I find myself stunned.
In Sri Lanka, everyone is currently at odds with one another. Some who have generously distributed rice packages are being attacked by enraged people who may have lost practically everything, even the lives of loved ones. It is becoming increasingly evident that current leadership will be held accountable for all of the negligence paid by leadership from the top down. It would have been appropriate to point the responsibility at others, but AKD, in particular, should be single-handedly penalized for doing little to protect innocent individuals in numerous places. The majority of innocent people who died were caught in high waters when the warning gates opened.
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
LS,……Japan and Bangladesh have done well in handling their yearly flooding. Read the following :
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Analysis of the current disaster in Sri Lanka by Prof. Galagedera 🌸
According to the analysis by Prof. Galagedara, Sri Lanka took in 10% of the annual rainfall in just 24 hrs. With the soil being already saturated, all of that turned into surface runoff. According to his calcs, 150,000 cubic metres per sec of water was blasting through a country that’s only 0.93% of the size of Amazon basin, yet producing 70% of the Amazon river’s peak discharge?! That isn’t weather. That’s a hydrological red alert. What this really means is that Sri Lanka’s infrastructure was never designed for what’s coming. Sri Lanka urgently needs a robust science-driven warning and drainage system with real-time rainfall radars, flood routing models, evacuation algorithms, automated spill gate protocols and community alert networks. Along with that, we’ll seriously need to address bad land use, bring in tougher rules and penalties for illegal constructions on wetlands and slopes, hillside deforestation, unplanned housing and politicians filling up marshlands for votes. We’ll need high capacity storm water channels, protected riverbanks, floodwater retention parks, underground drainage, slope reinforcement and emergency spill lakes. We need to get back to the fundamentals.
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Lester / December 5, 2025
Ramona,
Good ideas, but where is the $?
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
Lester,….tax the US$ Lankan millionaire and billionaire class, most of whom own foreign accounts snd foreign businesses. Bring the money back home.
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
Cont…
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This isn’t an option anymore. This is for survival.
With all of that, we need a political culture that invests in prevention than in funerals. Sri Lanka spends billions on compensation, relief and rebuilds but nearly nothing on preventing the destruction. Sri Lanka needs to move from reactive rescue to predictive prevention. We must also make an effort to change our national attitude towards disaster prevention. Empathy must come BEFORE a crisis. We have to wake up before a tragedy and question bad planning, demand science-based governance and shift our mindset from sympathy to responsibility. We can recover. Countries like Bangladesh and Japan that used to drown every year are managing storms confidently with various early storm detection systems and scientific planning. We can do it too. We just need science-backed decisions and courage to follow them.
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
☝️Someone had condensed Prof. Galagedera article. I got it from a WhatsApp post.
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LankaScot / December 5, 2025
Hello Ramona,
“Countries like Bangladesh and Japan that used to drown every year are managing storms confidently with various early storm detection systems and scientific planning”. This link below is from “reliefweb” about Bangladesh Floods – https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2025-000076-bgd
Japan is still not immune – https://www.adrc.asia/view_disaster_en.php?NationCode=392&Lang=en&Key=2768
I have just come from Gampola where even the Local Maharjana Wholesale Depot has been flooded. I would never have predicted that they would suffer flooding.
Best regards
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SJ / December 5, 2025
LS
I may be wrong.
But I have memories of reports of the Mahaveli flooding Gampola.
This is what AI dished out for me:
“Prior to the mid-1980s, the low-lying lands along the Mahaweli River from Gampola to Polgolla were often inundated. Major historical floods include those in 1936, 1947, 1958, 1974, and 1978, with the 1947 flood often cited as one of the worst in Sri Lanka’s history. The construction and regulation of flow by the Kotmale Dam largely mitigated this risk for decades. “
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leelagemalli / December 5, 2025
Dear Lanka Scot,
Please take all necessary steps to raise funds for our poor people who have lost practically everything, including loved ones. More than anywhere else, Gampola stands out. Some youth told me in a talk yesterday that they had lost a lot of their possessions. They’re helpless. I have once again been on a mission to get my European and other colleagues and acquaintances to aid our people by spending at least one dollar. The country’s current leadership is not nice enough to be humble and convene a national disaster recovery commission. They have also not expressed gratitude for the foreign help that has been flown to certain sections of the country. CBK was smarter back then, as far as I remember.
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LankaScot / December 5, 2025
Hello Leelgemalli,
My wife has just been to the Elpitiaya Temple with a big donation of Clothes from her Shop. They are collecting for distribution to the needy no matter what Religion or Ethnicity people are. Some of the Politicians from round here are also collecting, however we have been told (by a trusted source) which ones can be trusted. We have also made donations from the Grocery Shop. The Shop had run out of Rice, Flour, Sugar etc, and we have just been to Gampola to replenish stocks. The main road from Gelioya to Gampola is eroding badly at the edges (dangerously) in quite a few places. The streets in Gampola are piled high at the sides with mud/water damaged shop contents. All of the perishables are rotting and creating a Health Hazard (and a bad smell) although many efforts are being made to clear the debris.
Thanks for your thoughts and efforts.
Best regards
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SJ / December 6, 2025
LS
That is very kind of both of you.
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
LS,……Japan and Bangladesh did it well. We need scientific assessment on this. For example, water can be diverted to ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, and with forests to suck up excess water. Yes, scientific and engineering analysis and
implementation will require money, and those with money and assets of over $1-million (and there are many such Lankans in Sri Lanka and around the globe), will have to pay their taxes or return monies. The rest can come from donations.
/
old codger / December 5, 2025
Ramona
Floods too have their purposes. They bring down mud and nutrients to lower areas, like paddy fields. It’s not only our rivers that do it. Egyptian farmers wait for the Nile to flood. But they don’t build restaurants for tourists in the middle of the flood plain.
I we built storm drains all the way to the sea, they would carry our agriculture away too.
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
OC,…we can build more ponds, lakes, and reservoirs to hold the excess water, and storm drains will divert the water to them. Also Lankan houses should be built on stilts.
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leelagemalli / December 6, 2025
Ramona,
Ramona,Do you know what happened to DTG? He seemed well-controlled, but we haven’t heard from him in a few days. Don’t you believe you should use your heavenly abilities?
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old codger / December 6, 2025
Ramona,
If your all-powerful US government couldn’t do very much about Hurricane Katarina, what do you expect a Sri Lankan government to do?
Natural disasters happen. Even the flood levees in Lousians failed, didn’t they?
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leelagemalli / December 6, 2025
OC, NV, LS and all other sensitive thinkers,
.
“Marawade lankawata une-OMG, what happened to us in Sri Lanka again?” is solely owing to their self-made fate.
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The government may have reduced catastrophe victims if they followed prior HORA presidents’ policies.
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https://www.dw.com/en/sri-lanka-cyclone-tragedy-exposes-government-failures/a-74985337
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I believe that the people of Sri Lanka should reconsider why the majority of them continue to fall into the same trap. Right now, the rulers’ efficiency and capabilities are undeniably clear. They just do not give a damn about any honest and factual facts supplied by meteorologists, instead remaining blindfolded by their JEPPI-HAPPIPLA-BALAMU ranting. What was expected of them as leaders was completely unrealistic, based on their lofty rhetoric and promises.
Today, the entire globe is criticizing the government for failing to take meteorology experts’ weather forecasts seriously. The country’s leadership is quite weak, unable to collaborate with professionals. As a result, thousands of victims were pushed into another calamity, shattering their expectations once again.
This catastrophe is entirely attributable to a lack of experience. Their “walking the talk” is beyond comprehension. However, their falsehoods continue to lead regular people astray. YouTubers who support the government are frequently assaulted nowadays. The NPP and Jeppos’ shortsightedness have once again devastated this nation.
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ramona therese fernando / December 6, 2025
Oc….Double the number of Lankans were affected by cyclone Ditwah compared to Americans by Hurricane Katrina. And US is using its money to go to Mars (bad as it is). Sri Lanka is using its money for what exactly?
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Douglas / December 5, 2025
OC: “Good, you have realized the truth.”
You too will realise the truth of ‘Change’ after this disaster has been fully recovered and normalcy returns, with the publication of the accounts of the ‘Relief Funds.’
I hope you are aware that a ‘Management Committee’ of prominent Business Leaders and Government officials has been appointed, tasked with the sole responsibility of utilisation of the ‘Rebuild Sri Lanka’ project. Further, all functions and disbursements of funds for the project have been brought under the scrutiny of the Audit Department.
Let us wait to see the ‘Change’.
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Lester / December 5, 2025
He will keep writing rubbish with 22 different ID’s. Low-IQ scum.
Normally when people go on a train, they try to enjoy the scenery. However if you take the train in India during the early morning, you will see something entirely different. You will see rows of people squatting . One of them is probably Old Codger’s missing father. 😅🤣😂
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I cant get hard with one nut / December 5, 2025
Oh my darling Revd Lester PBUH,
Who is this old codger you’re blathering about? Is he irritating you in unmentionable places which you can’t scratch because they ain’t there anymore?
If you took a good look at his father’s nether regions, you would have noticed TWO appendages. Are you jealous of that, darling? BTW, you really like looking at nether regions, don’t you? You’re upset with that Scot because he isn’t interested in your scrawny ***** 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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chiv / December 6, 2025
👌👌👌👌
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Lester / December 5, 2025
The best example is when Old Pervert tried to defend Joker Ranil by claiming that insider trading is legal . It’s one thing if you are a broke beggar and never traded a stock before. But how stupid can you be to say that insider trading is legal? This guy is so dumb I had to stop reading his comments. There’s another kind of dumb, you know someone claiming to give expert advice on everything under the sun, while living in rural Kandy. SL is full of *characters.*
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I cant get hard with one nut / December 5, 2025
“one thing if you are a broke beggar and never traded a stock before.”
And another thing to talk about lingams while being unable to put one’s own lingam to good use, such as producing offspring.
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chiv / December 5, 2025
I cant get hard
😂🤣😅😂🤣😅
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Lester / December 5, 2025
I’m sure your Toilet Nadu mother has the remedy for that.
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SJ / December 5, 2025
c
You are creating openings for escape.
Enjoy the match in silence like everybody else does now.
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leelagemalli / December 6, 2025
Dear Readers,
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8UQ95wvo-E
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Let us educate ourselves by appreciating facts without bias. Why doesn’t the government acknowledge the facts and realities concerning the disaster?. People require urgent assistance. They are Sri Lankans. They are in a bind today, regardless of religion, color, or other affiliation, and the government bears the blame. The entire world is realizing that the government in power today lacks the leadership skills to give life to his country, which has been caught off guard by a crisis and will require whatever means to recover.
:
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
Certain Lankans are going to lose out on the non-payment of IMF loans……something to do with stocks and bonds being placed upon repayment of IMF loans. 😮. Hence, flooding victims are to be disregared, with nothing much done for flood prevention for it involves money….Plenty of money,…..and the money is to revolve in non-flooded city area dwellers who built their houses on rock (both in country and out country) with the money of the hardworking, suffering masses.
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SebastianSR / December 5, 2025
“the money is to revolve in non-flooded city area dwellers who built their houses on rock (both in country and out country) with the money of the hardworking, suffering masses”
The suffering masses never had any money, and did not pay much taxes.
When the earthquake of Lisbon killed thosands, the then Pope rightly attributed it to the person who created the world. Portuguese Jesuit, Gabriel Malagrida, was a prominent figure who argued the disaster was divine punishment.Portuguese Jesuit, Gabriel Malagrida, was a prominent figure who argued the disaster was divine punishment. Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, who saw the event as a challenge to the idea of a benevolent God.
If God created the world, then He is responsible for the suffering of the hardworking masses, the crooked politicians, as well as for the hurricanes and earthquakes that his creations and his creatures have to go through. And yet, there still are people who believe in such stuff, claim that God is Good and Merciful, and that we should buttress the churches with our offerings and money, so that the velvet-robed princes of the chruch can pontificate in comfort and offer us bread truned into flesh and wine turned into blood.
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ramona therese fernando / December 5, 2025
SebastianSR /,
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Our poor and suffering Lankan masses have been working in labour camps of the Middle East for generations to build their dwelling places and SME-businesses with the money they earn. Their money built up the base for the country to create and develop the big-business enterprise that sucked up their money to revolve around the city dwellers, overseas account holders, and overseas businesses holders.
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The Pope and the Jesuit priest you mention lived in the 18th century and did not have the critical thinking skills and any divine inspiration (has happened in history at times when the Devil took over)……probably due to being afraid of money being diverted from the church’s physical struture to charitable purposes (the very thing God required for His church, rather than physical attributes)…..happened also during the time of the French Revolution.
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Lester / December 6, 2025
“If God created the world, then He is responsible for the suffering of the hardworking masses”
That is true only if you attribute human characteristics to God. This is a very anthropomorphic picture of God as a powerful moral agent who could and should intervene like a benevolent dictator.
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leelagemalli / December 6, 2025
There is abundant evidence to show that the nation’s leader did not react appropriately in terms of opening the reservoir’s warning gates earlier in order to mitigate the resulting crisis situation.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcaVXV-p3W4
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Due to a lack of varied inexperienced behaviors, the government did not give the truth a place, instead protecting their position in politics at a high cost. Human loss was not prioritized as a primary concern.
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