King Sasanka – Sri Lankan Writer & Retired Aviation Professional.

For three decades, I worked overseas, sending hard-earned foreign exchange home during some of this country’s darkest hours. Those remittances weren't just personal savings; they were a lifeline for a nation embroiled in a civil war, a war we eventually won decisively. Now in retirement, I haven't sat back. We’ve taken steps to reduce our carbon footprint and ensure our own energy security. We bought a hybrid car and invested in solar panels for our roof. Today, we don’t owe the electricity board a cent; in fact, we produce what we need and sell the excess back to the national grid. So, when I hear calls for us to "switch off" our fans and lights to save the system, I find it hard to heed such requests. Our household is already a net producer. This isn't the late '80s. We are long past the era of "curfews by chit" and living in fear. Instead of asking citizens, who have already tightened their belts for a lifetime, to sacrifice more comfort, pe...

The Great Solar Sabotage: Why Sri Lanka is Turning its Back on the Future Sri Lanka is a land defined by its abundance. Positioned in the heart of the tropics, we are blessed with near-perpetual sunshine and two powerful monsoons—the South-West and the North-East—that provide a free, inexhaustible source of energy. Yet, in a move that defies both economic logic and environmental sanity, there are proposals to penalize the very citizens who have invested their own capital into rooftop solar. The justification? The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is bleeding money. But to suggest that discouraging renewable energy is the cure for the CEB’s financial terminal illness is like suggesting a thirsty man stop drinking water to save on plumbing costs. The Elephant in the Room: Mismanagement The CEB’s losses are not the fault of the sun; they are the result of decades of systemic mismanagement, inflated procurement prices, and a bloated workforce. Reports of meter readers earning upwards ...