North and East cannot be left behind forever

Eearly sixteen years after the guns fell silent, Sri Lanka’s North and East remain trapped in a quiet but devastating crisis.

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It is not a crisis of war, but of neglect. While Colombo continues to attract investment, opportunity and attention, vast districts in the North and East are still starving for meaningful economic activity. Roads may exist, elections may come and go, but livelihoods remain fragile and hope wears thin.

Successive governments have spoken at length about reconciliation, integration and development. Yet on the ground, the reality is stark. There are few notable large scale investments in the North and East that generate sustainable employment for locals or meaningfully strengthen regional economies. Young people continue to migrate to Colombo or overseas. Those who stay behind rely heavily on remittances, small scale farming or government assistance. This is not development. It is survival.

One of the biggest obstacles has been the government’s chronic inability to take firm decisions due to geopolitical anxieties. The North and East, because of their strategic location, have been viewed less as economic engines and more as geopolitical chessboards. India, China, the West and regional security concerns have repeatedly paralysed decision making. As a result, global companies that have shown interest have been left waiting, discouraged or quietly pushed away. Investors value clarity and consistency. Sri Lanka has offered neither.