Category: Daily Financial Times

Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe held a virtual meeting with Commercial Officers serving at Sri Lanka’s Foreign Missions on 31 July to review ongoing trade promotion activities and discuss strategies to boost trade, investment, tourism, and skilled employment opportunities.

Market Leader Home Lands continues to elevate the standard of real estate in Sri Lanka. That vision extends beyond delivering groundbreaking developments. It is about setting new benchmarks for sustainable real estate through innovation, environmental responsibility, and long-term value. As Sri Lanka’s number one, most trusted and most innovative developer, Home Lands believes that sustainable development is the foundation of the future, and every project undertaken by the company reflects a commitment to building responsibly while enhancing the lives of those who live and invest in these prestigious developments.

This commitment has been recognised at the CIOB Sri Lanka Sustainability Awards 2026, where Heyraa Construction (Pvt) Ltd., the construction arm of the Home Lands Group, was honoured with awards for Sustainable Construction Project in Sri Lanka for Central Park Boulevard Port City Colombo and Sustainable Construction for Tourism Enhancement for Bayfonte Marina Resort Apartments and Villas, Negombo. These accolades reaffirm Home Lands’ belief that sustainability is not a feature, but a core principle that guides every stage of planning, design, and construction.

At Central Park Boulevard, sustainability is integrated as a fundamental principle throughout the development. The project adopts environmentally responsible design approaches, efficient resource management practices, and sustainable construction methodologies to minimize environmental impact while enhancing the quality of living. Through the integration of innovative technologies, responsible material practices, and green building principles, the development supports its commitment towards achieving Platinum Green Building certification and creating a healthier, more sustainable urban environment.

At Bayfonte Marina Resort Apartments and Villas, sustainability is seamlessly integrated with tourism development. Overlooking the Negombo Lagoon, the project has been designed to preserve the surrounding ecosystem through environmentally sensitive planning, sustainable construction practices, native landscaping, and resource-efficient infrastructure. By protecting the area’s natural and cultural heritage while creating employment opportunities and supporting local businesses, Bayfonte Marina demonstrates how responsible development can strengthen both tourism and local communities.

For Home Lands, sustainability is measured not only by environmental performance but also by the lasting value created for communities and the nation. Every development is designed to enhance urban environments, support economic growth, and deliver healthier, more resilient places to live. Having achieved record numbers in both sales and delivery, Home Lands continues to prove that market leadership and environmental responsibility can progress together. As Home Lands continues shaping Sri Lanka’s real estate landscape, the company remains steadfast in the commitment to raising the benchmark for real estate through innovation, responsible construction, and sustainable development, building not just for today, but for generations to come.

Trusted in Sri Lanka and overseas by a growing international clientele, Market leader Home Lands has sold over 5,000 units across 24 large scale development projects while already having delivered over 3,750 units with 400 more units ready for delivery within this year and over 2,850 units under construction. With a growing global presence and offices in Australia, Dubai, and London, Home Lands serves both local and international clients, delivering landmark residential projects across the country. Home Lands has earned multiple accolades, including the Best Developer – Sri Lanka award at the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards three times, in 2021, 2024 and 2025; and in 2025 was honoured with Superbrands status, becoming the only real estate Superbrand in Sri Lanka.

Home Lands is the pioneer of resort-style residential developments in Sri Lanka and continues to redefine modern living, setting new benchmarks in quality, design, and lifestyle. As a fully integrated group of 14 companies, including its own construction arm, Heyraa Construction, holding the highest CS2 grading from CIDA, Home Lands delivers end-to-end solutions across real estate, construction, property management, and lifestyle creation, ensuring uncompromised quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. Home Lands, Sri Lanka’s number one, most trusted and most innovative developer continues to build on its brand values, shaping the nation’s real estate landscape with a legacy built on trust, innovation, and excellence.

Nearly 3,000 Sri Lankan youth who have been selected for employment in Israel’s construction sector under the Government-to-Government (G2G) recruitment program are planning a peaceful protest on 6 August 2026, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Parliament Roundabout, Battaramulla.

The purpose of this protest is to seek the intervention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to address the prolonged delays, lack of transparency, and concerns regarding unfair treatment in the implementation of the Israel G2G recruitment program.

A statement from the Israel G2G Selected Candidates said that all candidates successfully completed the required professional examinations, interviews, and selection procedures under the G2G program and were officially selected through a transparent lottery conducted by the Israeli authorities. Despite fulfilling every requirement, many have been waiting for more than a year without receiving their employment agreements or any clear explanation regarding the delays.

The protesters are deeply concerned that while thousands of qualified G2G candidates continue to wait, private recruitment agencies appear to be receiving a significantly higher number of job agreements for similar employment opportunities. This situation has raised serious concerns regarding transparency, fairness, and equal treatment by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE). Many candidates have invested considerable time, money, and effort in this process, and their families continue to face financial and emotional hardship due to the prolonged uncertainty.

‘Our objective is not confrontation but to respectfully appeal to the President to intervene, ensure a transparent review of the recruitment process, address any unfairness, and facilitate a fair and timely solution for all eligible G2G candidates,’ the statement added.

The Government is preparing tax, regulatory and procurement reforms, including changes to venture capital taxation, capital mobility and public procurement, as it seeks to support a target of generating $ 5 billion in digital exports by 2030.

Speaking at the national validation workshop on Sri Lanka’s proposed digital export roadmap yesterday, Digital Economy Deputy Minister Eng. Eranga Weeraratne and GovTech Sri Lanka Chairman and Chief Adviser to the President on Digital Economy Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya outlined a series of policy measures aimed at improving access to finance, reducing regulatory barriers and encouraging technology companies to establish and expand their operations from Sri Lanka.

The Deputy Minister said the Government expects to submit a Cabinet paper within weeks to establish a Fund of Funds under a national fund-of-funds policy to strengthen venture capital financing for startups.

Dr. Wijayasuriya said the Government is also finalising reforms to address tax pass-through issues affecting venture capital funds, while capital mobility rules will be revised to allow startups receiving foreign investment to use those funds for overseas expansion.

He said the measures are intended to address one of the industry’s long-standing challenges by making Sri Lanka a more attractive location for technology companies to retain their headquarters.

‘We are looking at some of the root causes and creating an environment which encourages headquartering in Sri Lanka,’ Dr. Wijayasuriya said.

The Government is also developing a virtual Special Economic Zone that would allow technology companies to incorporate and operate virtually with fewer administrative barriers. Dr. Wijayasuriya said the initiative draws on models adopted in the UAE and several Eastern European countries to attract investment from smaller, high-growth technology firms.

Another priority is procurement reform aimed at enabling Government institutions to purchase technology solutions from smaller domestic companies through more agile procurement processes.

Dr. Wijayasuriya said the Government should become a platform for the private sector by creating opportunities for local firms to develop digital solutions for public institutions while supporting the growth of the domestic technology industry.

The Government also plans to introduce incentive programs for research and intellectual property, alongside an Applied AI Institution and an AI Centre of Excellence as part of its digital economy agenda, Deputy Minister Weeraratne said.

He said Government could establish the policy framework, but achieving the export target would depend on commitments from industry, investors and academia.

‘Government alone cannot bring the full roadmap to fruition. We can bring out the right policies. But it is the industry who can actually make this happen,’ he said.

The proposals were presented during the validation workshop yesterday organised by the Digital Economy Ministry, GovTech Sri Lanka and the World Bank Group, where industry representatives, investors, academia and policymakers reviewed the draft roadmap before it is finalised.

Nations are not built by treaties or treasuries alone. They are built, generation after generation, in the quiet work of forming young people who think clearly, serve honestly, and lead well. At Independence, it was schools like S. Thomas’ College that supplied the country its first generation of statesmen, jurists, civil servants, and public intellectuals, formed not merely to hold office, but to understand office as a form of service.

A national engine, not a private one

Sri Lanka does not lack talent and STC’s alumni network, four campuses, and founding charter position it to close that gap as a national engine, not a private one. There is a wider current this ambition sits inside. Higher education has, for two centuries, been overwhelmingly a Northern-hemisphere export, Oxford, Cambridge, the Ivy League, setting the terms for what counts as a serious degree. That monopoly has begun to loosen: Singapore built a global schoolhouse, Doha an education city of branch campuses, and South Africa, India, Japan, and Malaysia have each pulled some share of higher education south and east. Sri Lanka has never had an institution positioned to make that claim, but STC, uniquely, has the campuses, the brand, and the relationships to attempt it. What is proposed is not an affiliate bolted onto a secondary school. It is STC Higher, a genuine tertiary institution on Thomian ground, offering internationally accredited degrees, so a young person in South Asia no longer has to cross a hemisphere for an education equal to the best in the world. This is the hardest claim in this piece, and it deserves to be treated as such: a secondary school does not become a degree-granting university by declaration, and internationally accredited tertiary status is a decade-long undertaking, built through accreditation partnerships and regulatory approval, not a launch event. What makes it a plausible ambition for STC rather than an overreach is precisely what already exists: an alumni network positioned to bring accreditation partners to the table, four physical campuses to house it, and a brand strong enough to attract a credible first cohort. The case for STC Higher is that the raw materials sit unused, not that the outcome is easy.

Where AI helps, and where it can’t

The measure of a great school, in the end, is not the excellence it keeps for itself. It is the excellence it sends out into the world.

This matters nowhere more than in Sri Lanka, still overwhelmingly rural, where a child’s postcode too often predicts their future more reliably than their ability does. AI has a genuine role in closing that gap: adaptive tutoring that meets a child at her actual level, gap-analysis that flags a struggling learner before any teacher notices, assessment that scales personal attention to thousands at once, at negligible cost. Used well, it dissolves the excuse that a rural child without a laboratory has nothing to offer the world. STC’s four campuses are already a physical and digital spine reaching into the terrain where opportunity is thinnest; the task is to extend them, treating every gifted, underprivileged child they discover as the mission itself.

For all that AI can do, it cannot sit with a boy after a difficult report and tell him, credibly, that he is more than his results. It cannot run a chapel service, referee a rain-soaked house match, or notice, the way a housemaster notices, that a normally cheerful student has gone quiet. The formation STC has always claimed, character under pressure, loyalty to something larger than oneself, the instinct to serve rather than simply succeed, happens in exactly these undigitisable moments. The right posture is a clear division of labour: let algorithms carry the marking and the logistics of reaching thousands at once, and free every hour of human attention that recovers for the work only a person can do.

The mechanism

The mechanism itself is not mysterious. A unified Thomian Digital Campus, one platform, one shared identity, would let a lesson taught in Mount Lavinia reach a classroom in Ampara the same evening, curating the best teaching available anywhere rather than only what STC itself can produce. A free annual national aptitude program, open to every child regardless of school or district, would identify promise on reasoning rather than curriculum access, with paper-based sittings where connectivity has not reached. Every element must serve girls and boys in genuinely equal measure, a reminder Sri Lanka’s own record makes plain, since girls already outperform boys in progression to higher education nationally. Selected students, Satellite Scholars, would not need to leave home; each would be paired with a Thomian Companion, an alumnus who walks alongside them not as a tutor marking work but as a companion for the journey itself, there as the child reaches for the stars, with enrichment, mentoring, and a short residential camp each year brought to the Scholar rather than the other way round, while partner schools across the island could join as regional hubs extending the network wherever the college itself cannot physically reach.

Leaving no one behind

The same platform can reach a child the system overlooks for a different reason: a visual, auditory, physical, or cognitive difference no ordinary classroom accommodates. Screen readers, sign-language companions, adjustable interfaces, and AI-paced content are not expensive add-ons bolted on later; they are simply what a platform built with every learner in mind looks like from the outset. A school that means what it says about opening doors cannot mean it selectively.

The same Scholar network, once built, does not have to stop at reasoning ability. There is a quieter injustice it can also address, one with nothing to do with geography or wealth. Inside STC’s own classrooms, and every classroom in the country, sit children consistently at the back of the O/Level and A/Level grade sheet who are nonetheless among the most capable people their generation will produce. Some of the brightest minds care little for the exact curriculum being tested; their gifts run toward building, persuading, performing, competing, or leading, in ways no syllabus anticipated. A school that measures potential only by examination rank will lose these children before the world discovers what they can do. A wider concept of education, crediting ability in sport, the arts, enterprise, and leadership as seriously as an A grade, can be exactly what jet-propels these students past their better-ranked classmates once school ends.

Nor does this outward mission need to be bounded by faith, race, or region. A country as plural as Sri Lanka is best served by an institution reaching across every divide, Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim children alike, on the same terms, with genuine proficiency in learning other subjects through English, from O/Level through A/Level, since that is the real gatekeeper to the world’s best universities. Done at scale, this produces something Sri Lanka has not had in generations: leaders from every district who never had to leave home to get there, each carrying the Satellite Scholar name as a mark recognised nationally and internationally, found, formed, and finished to lead on a global stage.

A circle, not a gift

None of this should be a one-way transaction. Every Satellite Scholar, every STC Higher graduate, should carry an expectation of return: a year teaching from afar or in person in the kind of school that once lacked what they were given, a spell serving as a shepherd celebrating inclusion and excellence. This is the same idea that built the school in the first place, applied at the scale of a generation, that talent and opportunity are held in trust, not owned outright.

Crossing the Road

This is not a new idea for STC to discover. Bishop Duleep Chickera once urged Thomians to cross the road, to step out of a well-resourced campus into the world of those who have far less, not as occasional charity but as a defining posture. Writing as an Old Boy who once boarded within these gates, I do not raise this lightly. At 175, the school stands at the milestone that demands the question be asked in full: not whether STC remains excellent, but whether it will finally cross that road all the way, building an entire architecture, digital, physical, and human, that lets it remain exactly where it is and still arrive, fully, wherever the road has not yet reached.

It would be dishonest to present this as simple. An institution this size does not turn quickly, and every idea here is easier to write down than to fund and sustain past an initial burst of enthusiasm. The real risk is not a lack of resources; it is that a vision this size quietly narrows into a slogan and a handful of pilots while the architecture itself never gets built. Guarding against that takes the same discipline STC already applies to cricket and academics: clear targets, honest reporting, and the willingness to kill what doesn’t work.

Great countries, in the end, are not the sum of their armies, their exports, or even their governments. They are the sum of what their schools were willing to demand of their young people, and how far they carried that demand beyond their own gates. Sri Lanka does not lack the raw material of greatness; it lacks institutions patient enough to go and find it, wherever it is hiding, and finish what they find. S. Thomas’ College, at 175, has the history and the moral inheritance to be exactly that institution. The founder built a school. This generation of Thomians has the chance to build something a country can be built on.

Imesha Dulani, widely regarded as one of the most promising batters in the Sri Lanka women’s cricket team hit a spectacular unbeaten maiden WT20I century to guide her team to a comprehensive six wickets win against Pakistan in the first Women’s T20 International played at the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Opening the batting with her legendary skipper Chamari Athapaththu, Player of the Match Dulani smashed 17 fours and one six in her knock of 101* as Sri Lanka chased down Pakistan’s total of 176-7 to win with an over to spare.

Dulani became only the second Sri Lankan woman to score a T20I hundred after Athapaththu (39 off 22 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes) with whom she shared an opening stand of 78 off 43 balls.

Dulani held her end up despite the cheap dismissals of Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama to forge a 52 runs stand off 36 balls with Kavisha Dilhari (11) to bring Sri Lanka within 10 runs of victory.

Pakistan were left to feel that they had let the match slip out of their fingers after dominating the batting powerplay by posting 64-0 in the first six overs. Muneeba Ali contributed 41 of those runs off 22 balls, but soon after the powerplay ended she lost her wicket for 42 off 24 balls (9 fours).

However, her opening partner Shawaal Zulfiqar took control from there onwards scoring 63 off 41 balls (10 fours, 1 six) and with small contributions from the middle and late order Pakistan managed to come up with a challenging total of 176-7.

Pakistan will be pleased with their top order batting, but having gone into the final five overs at 127-2, they might have hoped for more in their last five than the 49 they got.

It was the spinners who bowled well on the wicket with Kaveesha Dilhari claiming 2/36 for Sri Lanka and left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu 2/25 for Pakistan. The second WT20I will be played on Sunday at the same venue. – [ST]

Scores:

Pakistan Women 176-7 (20) (Muneeba Ali 42, Shawaal Zulfiqar 63, Eman Naseer 21, Kavisha Dilhari 2.36) vs. Sri Lanka Women 177-4 (19) (Imesha Dulani 101*, Chamari Athapaththu 39, Nashra Sandhu 2/25)

It is with immense pride and gratitude that I welcome you to this special commemorative publication celebrating the successful conclusion of the 14th World Construction Symposium (WCS) 2026 and the Sri Lankan Sustainability Awards (SSA) 2026.

From the very beginning, our vision was to create an event that would not only recognize excellence but also inspire a movement toward a more sustainable future. While researching global sustainability recognition programmes and international best practices, I recognized the need for a prestigious national platform that would celebrate organizations making a genuine impact through innovation, environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and good governance.

With that vision in mind, the concept of the Sri Lankan Sustainability Awards (SSA) was researched, developed, and presented to the Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB). I am deeply grateful to the leadership of CIOB for embracing this vision and transforming it into a nationally recognized programme that now celebrates sustainability excellence across Sri Lanka.

It has been an honour for Saga Group to serve as the Organizer, Event Manager, and Event Concept Partner for SSA 2026 and WCS 2026. Together with the dedicated teams of CIOB, the University of Moratuwa, our sponsors, partners, and numerous stakeholders, we successfully delivered an event that brought together government representatives, industry leaders, researchers, academics, development organizations, and corporate pioneers under one platform. The 14th World Construction Symposium 2026 once again demonstrated the importance of international collaboration in shaping the future of the built environment. The exchange of research, innovative ideas, and practical solutions has strengthened our collective commitment to building resilient, sustainable, and future-ready communities.

The Sri Lankan Sustainability Awards 2026 showcased inspiring stories of organizations and individuals who have gone beyond business success to create meaningful environmental, social, and economic impact. Every award recipient has demonstrated that sustainability is not merely a responsibility but a powerful driver of innovation, competitiveness, and long-term value creation.

Organizing an event of this scale requires the dedication of many individuals and organizations. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the Ceylon Institute of Builders, the Building Economics and Management Research Unit (BEMRU), Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa, our distinguished Jury Panel led by Prof. Dr. H. Lilaknath Obeyesekera, the endorsed Government Ministries, sponsors, media partners, speakers, volunteers, exhibitors, suppliers, and every organization that placed their trust in us.

A special thank you goes to the entire Saga Group team, whose professionalism, creativity, innovation, and tireless commitment ensured the successful planning and execution of every aspect of these prestigious events. Their dedication transformed a vision into an unforgettable experience for all participants.

As we celebrate the success of SSA 2026 and WCS 2026, we also look ahead with greater ambition. We are committed to continuously enhancing these platforms, expanding international collaboration, embracing new ideas, and creating even greater opportunities for organizations to showcase their sustainability achievements and contribute to national development.

I warmly invite organizations, institutions, development partners, and industry leaders to join us as partners in SSA 2027 and future editions of the World Construction Symposium. Together, we can continue recognizing excellence, promoting innovation, sharing knowledge, and inspiring a sustainable future for Sri Lanka and beyond.

On behalf of Saga Group, I sincerely thank everyone who contributed to making these events a remarkable success. Your trust and support inspire us to continue delivering world-class events that create lasting impact.

Together, let us continue building a future where sustainability, innovation, and collaboration shape the generations to come.

Sagara Gunawardana

Organizer and Event Manager

Sri Lankan Sustainability Awards (SSA) 2026 and 14th World Construction

Symposium (WCS) 2026

Chairman and Managing Director – Saga Group

The late Most Venerable Galboda Siri Gnanissara Thero, whom everyone knew with love and respect as ‘Podi Hamuduruwo’, spent his life serving the Buddha Sasana and helping people.

For many years, he gave leadership to the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo. He made the temple a place that was close to people from every part of society. It was not only a place of worship, but also a place where people could come for help, advice and encouragement.

Podi Hamuduruwo always paid special attention to children, young people and families facing difficulties. He supported Buddhist education, social welfare, youth development and many programs that helped communities throughout Sri Lanka.

He believed that the teachings of the Buddha should be practised by helping others. He brought together members of the Maha Sangha, devotees, professionals, government institutions, donors and volunteers to carry out this service.

Education was always very important to him. He knew that many talented children in rural areas had to face financial difficulties. Some children who did well in their studies could not continue their education because their families did not have enough money.

Podi Hamuduruwo believed that helping these children to study was one of the best services that could be offered to the country. He wanted them to receive a proper education, build good lives and become responsible citizens.

Although he is no longer with us, the programs he began and the people he inspired continue his work. The second-year commemoration of the late Most Venerable Galboda Siri Gnanissara Thero will be held on Sunday, 2 August 2026.

The program is being organised by the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya Temple under the guidance of Ven. (Dr.) Kirinde Assaji Thero, Chief Incumbent of the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo, and Sanghanayaka of the Colombo Nawa Koralaya under the Malwatta Chapter.

The program will begin in the morning at Gangaramaya Temple. A ‘Maha Sangha Dana’ will be offered to 150 members of the Maha Sangha. Religious observances will also be held and merit transferred to the late Podi Hamuduruwo.

The trustees, devotees, donors and well-wishers of Gangaramaya Temple are supporting the organisation of the program.

One of the most important ways in which the service of Podi Hamuduruwo continues is through the Galboda Siri Gnanissara Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund, known as ‘Nena Isura’.

Today, ‘Nena Isura’ supports over 420 students from rural and less privileged areas in different parts of Sri Lanka. These students have passed the Grade Five Scholarship Examination and need assistance to continue their education up to the G.C.E. Advanced Level.

The students come from areas including Monaragala, Kirinda, Padukka, Medagama, Ridimaliyadda, Sooriyawewa, Akurassa and Kalutara.

The program also supports students from families assisted by the Defence Ministry Seva Vanitha Unit, the Police Seva Vanitha Unit and the Tri-Forces Seva Vanitha Units.

The scholarship students will come to Colombo with their parents on 2 August. They will first visit the Colombo National Museum and learn about the history, culture and heritage of Sri Lanka.

They will also attend a special lecture by a university professor. The lecture will explain the importance of education and how it can help young people improve their lives and create a better future.

Afterwards, the students and their parents will visit Gangaramaya Temple. A special lunch will be provided for them at the temple.

The students will also receive educational books, school supplies and other items they need for their studies.

The day will conclude with the ‘Nena Isura’ Scholarship Awards Ceremony from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Conference Hall, Temple Trees.

The ceremony will be held under the patronage of Prime Minister and Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

A new group of selected students will also receive scholarships on this occasion.

Ambassadors, high commissioners, internationally recognised guests, education officials, government officials, students, parents, devotees, donors and other invited guests are expected to attend the ceremony.

This program is not only about remembering Podi Hamuduruwo. It is also about continuing the work that was closest to his heart.

Every child who receives an education through ‘Nena Isura’ carries a part of his vision forward. In this way, the service and legacy of Podi Hamuduruwo will continue for many years to come.

Sri Lanka’s para-athletes once again demonstrated remarkable resilience and world-class talent at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, delivering performances that deserve both national pride and urgent attention.

Among the standout achievements was Palitha Bandara, who secured a historic silver medal in the men’s discus throw F42-44/F61-64 event. Bandara produced a powerful and technically sound throw of 46.84 metres in the final, firmly establishing himself among the elite para-athletes in the Commonwealth. His performance was not only a personal triumph but also a testament to the untapped potential that exists within Sri Lanka’s para-sports community when given even minimal support.

Equally inspiring was the effort of Janani Dhananjana in the women’s T47 100m event. Though she narrowly missed out on a bronze medal by a mere 0.04 seconds, her timing of 12.50 seconds marked a new personal best – an achievement that underscores her rapid progress and determination on the international stage. Missing a podium finish by such a slim margin is undoubtedly heart-breaking, yet her performance sends a powerful message: Sri Lanka possesses athletes who are capable of competing with the very best in the world. Both Bandara and Dhananjana have elevated the country’s reputation in para-sports through sheer dedication, often in the face of significant challenges.

However, these achievements also bring into sharp focus a long-standing concern – the inadequate support, recognition, and infrastructure provided to para-athletes in Sri Lanka. Despite their success and the pride they bring to the nation, the level of care and investment from the Sports Ministry and relevant authorities remains far below what is required. Unlike able-bodied athletes, para-athletes frequently struggle with limited access to specialised training facilities, insufficient financial assistance, lack of modern equipment, and minimal exposure to international competitions. This disparity not only affects performance outcomes but also discourages many talented individuals from pursuing sports at a professional level.

To truly harness the potential of para-athletes, Sri Lanka must adopt a more inclusive and equitable approach to sports development. First and foremost, there must be a structured national program dedicated to para-sports, with clearly defined pathways for athlete identification, training, and progression. Specialised coaching is essential, as para-athletes require tailored training techniques that address their unique physical conditions. Investing in qualified coaches, physiotherapists, and sports scientists with expertise in para-athletics would significantly enhance performance standards.

Infrastructure development is another critical area. Training facilities must be upgraded to ensure accessibility and inclusivity, including adaptive equipment and safe training environments. High-performance centres should cater equally to para-athletes, providing them with the same level of resources available to able-bodied counterparts. Additionally, access to advanced sports technology, such as biomechanical analysis and recovery systems, can play a pivotal role in improving competitive outcomes.

Financial support remains a key concern. Many para-athletes rely on personal funding or limited sponsorships to sustain their careers. Establishing a dedicated funding mechanism – including Government grants, corporate sponsorship programs, and performance-based incentives – would provide athletes with the stability needed to focus entirely on their training. Furthermore, offering employment opportunities and educational support would ensure long-term security for athletes beyond their sporting careers.

Equally important is the need for greater recognition and media coverage. Celebrating para-athletes’ achievements on national platforms not only boosts morale but also inspires future generations. Public awareness campaigns can help change societal perceptions and foster a culture that values inclusivity and equal opportunity in sports. Schools and community programs should also encourage participation in para-sports, identifying talent from an early stage and nurturing it through structured development systems.

The performances of Palitha Bandara and Janani Dhananjana at the 2026 Commonwealth Games are not isolated successes – they are indicators of what Sri Lanka can achieve with the right support system in place. Their determination, discipline, and courage have already placed the nation on the global map in para-athletics. What is needed now is a collective commitment from policymakers, sports authorities, and the private sector to bridge the existing gaps and provide para-athletes with the resources they rightfully deserve.

If Sri Lanka is to emerge as a competitive force in global para-sports, the time to act is now. By investing in infrastructure, expertise, and athlete welfare, the country can transform these inspiring individual performances into sustained international success. Para-athletes have proven that their potential knows no limits – it is up to the nation to ensure that their opportunities are equally boundless.

It is with great pride and gratitude that I extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who contributed to the outstanding success of the 14th World Construction Symposium and the Sri Lankan Sustainability Awards Ceremony 2026, held at the Hilton Colombo.

As the Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Treasurer and representative of the Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB), I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to all those who supported this prestigious international event.

My sincere appreciation goes to the endorsing ministries for their valuable guidance and support:

Ministry of Engineering, Housing, Water Supply and Drainage

Ministry of Energy

Urban Development Authority (UDA), Ministry of Transport and Road Development Authority (RDA)

Ministry of Environment

I also extend my special gratitude to the University of Moratuwa for partnering with CIOB in organizing the World Construction Symposium and for its valuable academic contribution.

My sincere thanks go to the President, Council Members, and all Board Members of the Ceylon Institute of Builders for their leadership, dedication, and commitment to making this event a remarkable success.

A special word of appreciation is extended to all our sponsors and supporting organizations, whose generous support made this event possible.

I would also like to thank the Saga Group for their excellent event management and the professional arrangements that ensured a memorable experience for all participants.

Congratulations to all the Sustainable Awards winners. Your achievements demonstrate excellence, innovation, and commitment to sustainable development in Sri Lanka’s construction industry. You have set an inspiring example for the future of our profession.

Finally, I thank all delegates, speakers, researchers, volunteers, and participants from Sri Lanka and abroad for making these events truly successful. Together, we continue to build a more sustainable, innovative, and resilient construction industry.