The leading blue-chip conglomerate, Aitken Spence PLC reported an impressive EBITDA (earnings inclusive of equity accounted investees, before interest expenses, tax, depreciation, and amortization) of Rs. 30.1 billion with a growth of 30.3%, showcasing the contribution from all sectors for the year ended 2022/2023. It is noteworthy that excluding foreign exchange gains, The Group’s EBITDA recorded a growth of 77.0%.

The Group’s Profit from Operations for the year witnessed a 15.8% increase, rising from Rs. 16.4 billion to Rs. 19.0 billion. Furthermore, during the financial year that ended 31st March 2023, the Group’s Profit from Operations, excluding foreign exchange gain, recorded a substantial growth of 85.2% over the previous year.

The Group reported a profit before tax of Rs.11.2 billion which was a decline of 21.3% for the year ended 31st March 2023. This was primarily influenced by the decrease in foreign exchange gains compared to the previous year and the steep increase in interest costs due to the high interest rates that prevailed throughout the year. However, when adjusted for foreign exchange gains, profit before tax exhibited a growth of 31.9% for the year ended 31st March 2023. This adjusted measure offers a fairer assessment of performance, considering the extreme volatility of the exchange rate witnessed during the last financial year.

The Group’s strategic emphasis on geographical diversification has yielded fruitful outcomes, as evidenced by the overseas sector’s substantial contribution of over 60% to the Group’s profit before tax. During the reviewed year, the Maritime & Freight Logistics Sector emerged as the leading contributor to the Group’s profitability, accounting for 69.8%, followed by the Tourism Sector with a contribution of 20.8%, the Strategic Investments Sector with 4.8%, and the Services Sector with 4.6%. The remarkable growth of the Maritime & Freight Logistics Sector played a pivotal role in bolstering the overall performance of the Group. All five segments within this sector demonstrated their strength and resilience by making positive contributions.

Furthermore, the Group’s performance received significant boosts from segments such as apparel manufacturing and the hotels segment in the Maldives. By implementing targeted marketing strategies and making strategic adjustments, Turyaa Chennai underwent a substantial transformation in its performance, leading to the hotel achieving a profit before tax for the first time in its history.

Improved results of the Plantation segment also contributed positively towards the Group’s performance. This is despite recognising a substantial increase in deferred tax liability due to the increase in income tax rates, particularly in the plantation and hotel sectors. The excessive delays faced in the settlement of dues from the Government in the power generation segment is causing a strain on the Group’s finances with unwarranted finance cost being borne by the sector. Despite this Aitken Spence has been operating its 10MW waste-to-energy power plant based in Kerawalapitiya as halting operations would mean that the country’s Colombo District will once again be faced with a severe garbage crisis that could potentially lead to social and environmental problems.

The Group faced a significant challenge due to the fluctuation of foreign exchange rates. The profitability of the Group was adversely impacted by a considerable increase in interest expenses, which had a negative effect on capital-intensive segments like the hotels segment and the power generation segment, which heavily rely on borrowings to finance their infrastructure.

“Our foresight and insightful outlook and astute decision-making have led us to make strategic investments in foreign exchange-generating businesses. This long-term vision has proven to be remarkably advantageous during the challenging year, as these investments have played a crucial role in ensuring uninterrupted operations across all business segments within our Group. By taking a diligent approach to growth, we ensure that any expansion initiatives are well-suited to the Group and have the potential to contribute positively to the socio-economic development of our country”, commented Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Aitken Spence PLC.

Other key highlights during the financial year 2022-2023

Acquisition of a solar power plant, adding 10MW to the renewable energy generation capacity at an investment of Rs. 1.4 billion. Presently, the Group contributes to providing for just over 1.4% of the country’s peak energy demand with renewable energy.

Invested in a joint venture for freight forwarding in Cambodia, further expanding its geographical footprint.

Commenced construction of a 100,000 sq. ft container freight station at a cost of Rs.1.6 billion. The strategically located facility will significantly expand existing capacity to handle more cargo.

‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)’ under the theme ‘Freedom to be me’ was launched during the financial year. As a progressive step in this direction, parental leave was enhanced, including the duration of maternal leave been extended to 100 days and the introduction of paternal leave.

Inculcate a culture of innovation to inspire Spensonians to unleash their capacity for innovation and creativity through various initiatives such as SpenceInnova. These ideas designed and developed have been successfully implemented in various business operations.

Voluntary endorsement of the UN Global Compact marked 20 years in May 2022.

Publicly pledged to attain net zero emission status by 2030, becoming signatories to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). These endeavors exemplify the Group’s steadfast commitment to addressing climate change and integrating sustainable practices into its operations.

Listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1983, Aitken Spence is anchored to a heritage of excellence spanning over 150 years and driven by a team of more than 13,000 across 16 industries in 9 countries: Sri Lanka, Maldives, Fiji, India, Oman, Myanmar, Mozambique, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

Source: https://island.lk/aitken-spence-records-a-strong-ebitda-of-rs-30-1-billion-with-a-growth-of-30-3-for-fy23/

It seems, however, that they’re still somewhat trepidatious as a result of the pandemic experience, since 38 percent report that the ability to cancel or rebook without penalty is the most important factor for them when arranging their next trip, trailed by 36 percent of respondents who said they’ll be paying closer attention to hygiene standards.

“The data really demonstrates that, while we’re keen to get back to regular travel, consumers are still tentative,” remarked GWI’s Chief Research Officer, Jason Mander added, Brands should take note, offer flexibility and, above all, demonstrate the overall value and experience they’re offering.”

Today’s record-high economic inflation levels leading to a “cost of living crisis” and resulting concerns about an oncoming recession are also impacting consumer sentiment. As the cost of travel goes up, along with everything else, 36 percent of Americans are being price-conscious when it comes to their travel spending, according to July 2022 GWI Zeitgeist data.

“While many people have jumped back into traveling after the disruption of the past couple of years, the ways in which we now live and work post-pandemic are heavily impacting travelers’ expectations,” said GWI’s CEO and Founder, Tom Smith. “That’s exactly why we have created a travel-specific data set—to help our customers stay on top of these ongoing changes, and really understand what people want and need.”

Viewed altogether, U.S. travelers reported that their top priorities when planning a vacation right now are visiting family, relatives and friends (53 percent), or going on a beach or coastal getaway. However, when the data is broken down generationally, it’s evident that people in each age group have different preferences on how they want to travel.

A generational breakdown of U.S. consumer data also reveals some key differences among the things that each age group is presently prioritizing when planning their vacations:

Source: https://www.travelpulse.com/news/impacting-travel/travel-demand-remains-high-despite-recession-fears.html

As one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots, Sri Lanka has the highest biodiversity per unit area of land among all Asian countries. Protecting our unique and diverse ecosystems is vital in the fight against accelerating climate change and as an indicator of the health and resilience of the environment. 

Along with protecting Sri Lanka’s biodiversity, we must look at the economic aspects of biodiversity conservation and livelihood management. To ensure the sustainability of managing biodiverse locations such as national parks, arboretums, bird parks and wetlands, it is necessary to explore innovative methods of raising financing. 

Tourism is an effective method of leveraging and mobilising available natural resources for biodiversity financing. Accordingly, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka supported the Biodiversity Secretariat of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) in Sri Lanka to conduct an awareness program for tour guides and tour operators to promote eco-tourism in Dambulla at the NIFS-Popham Arboretum. This program was conducted recently as a part of the “Environment Week” declared by the MoE to celebrate World Environment Day on 5 June. As such, 2 June was named Biodiversity Day, and the awareness program was conducted in honour of this. 

Given the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, reliance only on State funding for conservation and protection is simply not sustainable. Accordingly, exploring methods of achieving financial sustainability for biodiversity conservation is vital. The sustainable use of natural resources and biodiversity for livelihood and income generation is one such method of ensuring conservation whilst empowering communities in the surrounding areas.

An arboretum is a botanical collection composed of a wide variety of species and trees. The NIFS-Popham Arboretum is situated 2.5 km away from Dambulla and was gifted to the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS) in 1989 to carry out research and educational activities. This arboretum hosts many local and foreign researchers for ecological research purposes and is a popular tourist destination due to its unique biodiversity. The arboretum has rich vegetation of over 200 plant species and a variety of unique fauna to be found, and it acts as a restoration site for valuable and endangered indigenous forest species. 

There is significant potential for the arboretum to be further developed as an eco-tourism destination as it hosts many activities such as day and night safaris, camping, and offers other lodging and research facilities. The MoE has planned to develop this arboretum into a profitable and sustainable eco-tourism venture, whilst ensuring the maintenance of its unique and precious ecology. 

Speaking at the workshop, Dr. R.D.S. Jayathunga from the Ministry of Environment stated, “Biodiversity in Sri Lanka has faced many challenges. Eco-tourism has been identified as a major area to promote the conservation of biodiversity… It contributes to community development.” UNDP in Sri Lanka and the European Union (EU) have come together to support the revitalisation of Sri Lanka’s Tourism Industry together with the Ministry of Tourism. With the overall support provided through the ‘Transforming Tourism in Sri Lanka: Emerging from crisis as a strong, resurgent and rebranded industry’ project, this awareness program was only a step in developing this arboretum as a tourist experience, and it aims to provide tour guides and operators in the area with the knowledge to promote it as a sustainable nature-based experience. The participants were enriched with knowledge of the arboretum’s biodiversity value, the role of a tour guide in eco-tourism practices, and eco-tourism opportunities in the arboretum, with space provided for guides to share their ideas and experiences as well. 

Commenting on the EU’s overall support to the tourism industry, Harshani Halangode from the EU stated, “With the valuable partnership with UNDP, we aim to revitalise and transform the tourism industry into a resilient, sustainable, and intrinsic sector. We are pleased to help upscale tour guides and tour operators in the area, supporting livelihoods, providing skills development for youth, and supporting rural communities.” 

The collaboration between the EU and UNDP signifies the critical importance of tourism to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery at this critical juncture. 

Speaking on the partnership, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Sri Lanka Malin Herwig said: “In close partnership with the EU, we are working to protect natural and cultural assets, so that they are protected for tourism, and other needs and sectors. With the generous support of the EU for the Transforming Tourism Project, we are building initiatives to lay the foundation for more investments in an innovative and nature-based tourism sector.” 

The Transforming Tourism Project aims to address the urgent needs of the industry, strengthening the institutional framework and capacity to set it on a trajectory for a greener, more resilient future with a focus on such initiatives targeted at biodiversity conservation through the sustainable use of natural resources for livelihood and income generation. 

Source: https://www.ft.lk/travel-tourism/Leveraging-natural-resources-for-biodiversity-financing-through-eco-tourism-initiatives/27-735908

Aitken Spence Travels proved their commitment to uphold exemplary benchmarks in occupational health and safety by becoming the first destination management company in Sri Lanka to receive the ISO 45001: 2018 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management certification. 

Certified by the SGS United Kingdom Ltd., the scope covered in the assessment includes destination management services, inbound tourism and activities including support services carried out at Aitken Spence Travels. 

This is just one of the ways Aitken Spence Travels adds greater value to its stakeholders and sets benchmarks in the industry. An OHS management system focuses on establishing ongoing, systemic measures to identify and control OHS hazards and risks (including system deficiencies) in the working environment to safeguard the wellbeing of all stakeholders.

“This is yet another important step towards affirming to our employees, customers, partners and other key stakeholders on the value we place on occupational health and safety and our continuous efforts to improve and offer the best services in the industry. I thank the management team for their continuous support and dedication towards achieving this certification which is commendable” commented Aitken Spence Travels Managing Director Nalin Jayasundera.

This is one of the many certifications obtained by Aitken Spence Travels. The company maintains the Travelife Partnership Certification for the operations keeping in line with global sustainable tourism practices and has a longstanding partnership with TUI. Aitken Spence Travels was also the first destination management company to obtain ISO 9001:2008. Furthermore, the company’s operations are ISO 14001:2015 certified for their efforts towards environmental impact control.

Aitken Spence Travels, part of the diversified blue-chip conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC, is a joint venture with TUI Travel PLC, the world’s largest integrated tourism company. The Group’s destination management arm handles inbound and outbound tour packages for groups, FIT (Free Independent Travellers) and the MICE segments (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) which operates in a highly competitive and tumultuous business environment.

Source: https://www.ft.lk/travel-tourism/Aitken-Spence-Travels-first-to-be-certified-for-Occupational-Health-and-Safety/27-733660

For the first time in Sri Lanka Railways and travel trade history, a super-luxury train will be introduced from next month from Kandy to Ella and back. The train will operate daily from Kandy to Ella in the morning and return in the evening.

This will have around 176 AC first class seats and over 144 second class seats in this train branded as ‘Ella Odyssey’ which will be operated by Sri Lanka Railways. Sri Lankan Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) said they were delighted to learn of the launch of the new train from Kandy to Ella on a daily basis.

“This is an excellent opportunity for tourists to travel on this scenic route . The train will have AC first and second class seats and also a restaurant serving buffet which will have 70 seats, enough for socializing’ said Mahen Kariyawasam from SLITO.

“We must thank GMR M. Jayasundere and his team for taking this initiative which we are confident will be a good value addition to our product,” he added.

One of the unique features of this is that the train stops in several tourist hot spots and allows guests to get down and visit these places and come back again which is also a first of its kind in Sri Lanka.

Source : https://www.dailynews.lk/2022/03/01/business/273683/ella-odyssey-luxury-train-service-soon

Wangedigala is a popular hiking spot situated in a village called Kalupahana. It is given the name Wangedigala (Pestle) because the top of the mountain looks like a Pestle. This is one of the most beautiful greeny Mountains with different peaks. Hiking through the forest of Wangedigala gives hikers amazing views of the surrounding areas including the Bambarakanda Falls and Lanka Ella Falls. 
​
Hikers need to climb on steep mountain slopes covered with pine needles. Additional precautions should be taken due to the slope which can become slippery when dry. Much stamina is required for average hikers as the hike can take up to 3 to 4 hours. It is also a popular spot for camping with its cool climate and amazing view at the peak. It is recommended to camp overnight as it will be difficult to climb down on the same day. By evening when the darkness falls you can see the beautiful sunset and also after the camping night you can see the beautiful sunrise from the top of the mountain.​

​DIFFICULTY LEVEL: ADVANCED
Take adequate drinking water and food as much as you can. Because there is no water flows at the top. Even during the rainy season, there is only a small flow of water at the top of the mountain.​

Take no polythene or plastic and leave it there because nature needs to be protected by all of us

If you’re making a fire on top, try to be happy with whatever you have. Don’t cut down the few trees on the hillside.

You are on your own because there are no sanitary facilities at the top.

​

Although the Sri Lankan tourism sector is still struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the island nation received the highest number of foreign tourists in December 2021, with majority of the holidaymakers from India.

Despite shutting of borders in the wake of the health crisis for several months, a total of 194,495 tourists arrived in the island nation, with over one-fourth of them from India, said the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA).

The SLTDA said that India topped the list with 56,268 tourists, followed by Russia (16,268) and the UK (16,646), Germany (12,442), Ukraine (7,037), France (6,549), the US (6,124), Kazakhstan (5,754), Canada (5,079) and China (2,417).

After witnessing two Covid-19 waves, Sri Lanka’s tourism was further ravaged by the third wave of the pandemic in April 2021. However, one of the top tourist destinations in the world, Sri Lanka gradually opened for holidaymakers and a number of promotions were introduced in connection.

To get more visitors from the neighbouring nation, flag carrier SriLankan Airlines launched a Buy One, Get One Free Ticket campaign for Indian tourists. The airlines also started several weekly flights to Chennai and Mumbai, while operations commenced to Bengaluru, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum, and Cochin.

In August 2021, the country opened its borders for fully vaccinated travellers and the next month it also removed the mandatory on-arrival PCR tests. Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, the third highest foreign income earner, suffered a massive blow with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks targeting Christian churches and five-star hotels in April 2019, killed nearly 25o people, including foreigners.

The country which was recognised as Lonely Planet’s number one travel destination in October 2019 was planning to attract 2.5 million tourists compared to its 2018 figure 2.3 million. Sri Lanka recorded over 1.9 million tourist arrivals in 2019 earning around USD 3.5 billion. As the pandemic raged, the sector further suffered in 2020, with the figure plunging to 570,000.

The event featured insightful presentations on the culture, history, traditions and distinctive customs of Sri Lanka, Ceylon tea, amazing sights and attractions of the island delivered by the staff of the Embassy. A representative of SriLankan Airlines highlighted the ease of travel from Russia to Sri Lanka with the resumption of direct flights and relaxation of Visa process. The audience also treated with a colourful collection of traditional Sri Lankan dances, Sinhala songs performed by the Russian youth and students of the Sinhala course conducted by the Embassy and a fashion show including batik dresses and Sri Lankan wedding costumes.

The event was attended by around 50 guests representing culture, trade, tourism, tea – related spheres as well as Russian media, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia Prof. Janitha A. Liyanage, Deputy Director of the RSL Natalya Samoilenko and Deputy Director of the Center for Oriental Literature of the RSL Mikhail Milanyin. Since due to the pandemic restrictions the admission to the site was restricted, those who could not visit the event were able watch it online through the Embassy social media.

In the course of event, the Embassy donated a number of cultural items, which were received from the National Crafts Council, to the State Museum of Oriental Arts and to the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera). Russian books translated to Sinhala to Russian were also donated to the State Library and the Center for Oriental Literature of the RSL.

The exhibition included books of the Russian State Library collection of Sinhala, Tamil, Russian and English, published in Sri Lanka, in the USSR, Russia and other countries of the world. The exhibition is open for the readers of the library from 23 to 30 November 2021, It includes more than fifty publications, including novels and stories by the outstanding Sri Lankan writer Martin Wickramasinghe.

The Embassy provided for the exhibition numerous objects of culture and everyday life of Sri Lanka: traditional dresses, wooden masks used in rituals and theatrical performances, musical instruments, jewelry and boxes, brass items, batik paintings, etc.

The Embassy highly appreciates the input of everyone who helped to bring the initiative of the “Sri Lankan Day – 2021” to a reality.

− Administration of the Russian State Library and the Center for Oriental Literature;

− Students of the Folk vocal studio «Azure sapphire» from the Marfino Center for Leisure and Culture;

− Sri Lankan students, who performed traditional and national dances and model show of batik dresses;

− Interns of the Embassy who supported for the model show of batik dresses;

− Russian students of the online Sinhala course, who performed a song in Sinhala;

− All Sri Lankan and Russian volunteers;

− All sponsors of the event, etc.

Embassy of Sri Lanka

Moscow

Source: http://www.travelvoice.lk/sri-lankan-day-2021-and-book-and-cultural-exhibition/

• A crying need for beach tourism

Most often we don’t succeed or progress because there is a mismatch in our actions i.e. in what we do and the results we expect. In some ways, it could be said that we continue to grapple with paradoxes, because we keep doing things that are counterproductive and then ask ourselves why we are not successful and progressing!

If we were to look at examples of what I am talking about, there are many similar situations that are going on around us that could be pointed out, and the list may seem endless. But for the sake of this article I would like to highlight just one such example. I am a naturalist myself, albeit a student rather than an expert. As a person who travels the island to observe our wildlife in its natural habitat, what I find is that we are not doing enough in terms of real conservation. There is a lot more that is required to be done for the wellbeing of our island’s natural resources or to put it more simply, for protecting our environment. 

The physical appearance of our island, its ambiance, splendour and the magical experience it can provide a visitor are all unique. Left untouched, it can be a boon to us all in the form of an industry like tourism. Tourism and the environment are interconnected and the proper handling of it is very important. But, we continue to take actions that cause harm to our environment and impede the development of tourism. 

Beach tourism not made priority

There are many types of tourism and, for us islanders, beach tourism stands at the top. With approximately 1,600 km of beach wrapped around the island, beach tourism taking priority is inevitable and something that should be taken advantage of. Be that as it may, in the last forty years or so, our country’s development plans do not seem to take this important factor into account. Therefore, our actions in this vital area of beach tourism don’t support the success we expect, because we are not doing much to preserve one of our primary natural resources — our beaches.

The best example of this is what happened at Unawatuna. Once named by the Discovery Channel as ‘The Best Beach in the World,’ it has been laid to waste today, due to a badly planned breakwater, built nearly a kilometre into the ocean. This has disturbed the natural balance of the ecosystem, washing away sand from one half of the beach, and depositing it on the other. The picturesque beach of this major tourist attraction of the south is now almost entirely claimed by the ocean. Three-fourths of the Unawatuna coast is destroyed by giant waves that crash onto the sandy shores hour by hour and the once thriving tourism business in that area would never be the same. 

Coastal protective hard structure counterproductive

Although building hard structures on the coast is probably done with all good intentions, they seem to be counterproductive because adjacent areas on the coast get affected. In fact they seem to act as a catalyst for destruction, in the form of erosion, unpredictable waves and disastrous change in ocean currents all going towards nullifying beach tourism.

However, the many reports written on the subject and presented to relevant authorities seem to be falling on deaf ears. 

A report on ‘Coastal Area Management in Sri Lanka’ prepared by Kem Lowry of the University of Hawaii and H.J.M. Wickremeratne of the Coast Conservation Dept. in 1988, has a section on ‘Ill-designed Coastal Erosion Protection Structures’ which refers to several reactive measures taken by the Coast Conservation Department (CCD). These were probably done under public pressure to prevent erosion, but they have without a doubt proved disastrous. According to Lowry and Wickremeratne, some of the structures were built without any scientific understanding of the local coastal dynamics, resulting in the ‘solution’ to prevent erosion in one area, causing considerable erosion to occur elsewhere. 

Giving an example of such ill designed coastal works, the paper refers to a long groyne construction built to stabilise the outlet of the Panadura river. The objective of the construction was to ensure that the river mouth remained open as an outlet to the Bolgoda Lake and to prevent the periodic flooding of adjacent paddy land. A secondary objective was to allow fishing boats access for mooring. Although these objectives were achieved, the groyne caused serious erosion to the north of the river, blocking the littoral supply of sand to the entire coastline from Egodauyane to Ratmalana. Numerous houses have been washed away, and the beaches of Egodauyana and Lunawa have disappeared. The main coastal railway in this area continues to exist only because of major revetments.

The paper also says “an even more dramatic example occurred when the construction of a breakwater was begun at Wellamankara in the north of Negombo, as a part of a project to build a fishing harbour along this straight portion of coast. The breakwater resulted in such severe erosion that an entire fishing village to the north of the breakwater was eventually washed away, further erosion was prevented only by removing the breakwater at a cost exceeding that of the original construction.”

Potential disaster at Mawella Bay

Despite these disasters, the construction of hard structures continues. Over the past year decisions have been made by state agencies to construct a 300 metres long stone anchorage and two offshore breakwaters at Mawella Bay, another one of our country’s beautiful untouched beaches. This decision is currently being challenged by the locals who believe it would be harmful to their environment, because once again there is no evidence of any proper scientific study done on the proposed construction.

A report by Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi, Professor of Coastal Oceanography at the University of Western Australia says the construction of these two 60m offshore breakwaters is not recommended, because they will be located in a region with high wave and current activity. The region for the proposed breakwaters is a highly complex one in terms of hydrodynamics and sand transport. The breakwaters once built will retain sand in the lee, thus interrupting the alongshore transport of sand. As the sand retained would be from regions along the ~1.5 km length of beach, there is a strong probability of extreme erosion occurring in other regions of the now beautiful Bay. 

People’s influence on the environment a leading factor in coastal erosion

A recent report published by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in March 2021 titled ‘Are coastal protective hard structures still applicable with respect to shoreline changes in Sri Lanka?’ also pointed to the dangers of these man-made structures in trying to prevent erosion. It said that the application of hard structures to mitigate the effect of coastal erosion has increased within the past 15 years.

The report refers to coastal protective hard structures as ‘anthropogenic activities.’ Anthropogenic means relating to, or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature. The report concluded that ‘the part of the study area experiencing coastal erosion due to anthropogenic activities may face more drastic changes in its shoreline and environment than other areas in the Western and North-Western regions of Sri Lanka. Therefore, anthropogenic activities are the leading factor in coastal erosion in the respective study area rather than natural scenarios such as a sea-level rise, climatic changes, and natural disaster conditions.’

The report also highlights that the application of hard structures is the solution that is least able to control coastal erosion in a large area because applying hard structure is good for the site but not very helpful for other adjacent areas. Therefore, as long as humans introduce no alterations, the environment will remain under its natural conditions. If the shoreline is changing naturally, as humans, we have to adjust rather than alter it.

Hard structures a problem rather than a solution

With all this evidence pointing towards breakwaters, groynes, revetments (artificial walls) and coves causing more damage than solution, it is necessary for us to look more carefully at these manmade coastal constructions. 

I believe the cost of building these structures have to be carefully evaluated. The breakwater that was built on the southern side of the Colombo harbour for the extension of the port was no doubt meaningful from a business sense. Especially in terms of the development of our capabilities in handling transhipment which has had a massive positive economic impact on Sri Lanka. However, constructing breakwaters at every nook and cranny on our coast without proper scientific research and understanding is counterproductive. The latest problem faced by residents and investors in the Mawella Bay area is typical of this malady. The local residents of the Mawella Bay area recently found the sea unusually encroaching on the mangroves, causing great distress to them. They attribute the cause of this to the building of an anchorage in the bay. 

To put it in context, Mawella Bay is two kilometres long, pristine, and well suited for high end tourism. This is one of the few beaches on the southern coast of the island that is calm, serene and remains swimmable all year round. For these reasons the bay has been benchmarked as an area for investment in creating a unique boutique tourism destination. Ad hoc plans without any scientific basis have been utilised to put up stone structures to disturb a sustainable environment that has survived centuries of changes in tides and currents to make it a beautiful, safe bay. 

Someone needs to make the decision on how development work is done in the country, in a manner that is sustainable and of value to everyone. But who will make that call? 

Source: https://www.ft.lk/columns/Sustainable-development-of-Sri-Lanka-s-coastline/4-725005

More than 1 million people including security personnel, health care staff and tourism industry workers will be given third shots of the Pfizer vaccine beginning November 1, the president’s office said in a statement. So far Sri Lanka has fully vaccinated a little over 60% of its 22 million people. The country depends on international tourism, and partially rolled back Covid-19 restrictions late last month, allowing fully vaccinated travellers with a negative test to enter without quarantine.

Earnings from tourism plummeted from $4.3 billion in 2018 to just $33 million in the first eight months of this year. Reviving the industry is seen as crucial to restoring reserves which stood at just $2.6 billion at the end of September. Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said there was strong interest from travellers from countries such as Russia, Britain, France and Germany, and that international flights will be increased from next month.

“The target is to have a strong winter season from November to March or April of next year,” he said. An estimated 400,000 people are employed in the tourism industry.

Source: https://www.traveldailymedia.com/sri-lanka-gives-covid-19-booster-shots-for-frontline-and-tourism-staff/