Glimpse of History from ANCL Archives:

Eternal monuments of pride

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

As Sri Lanka celebrates its 59th anniversary of Independence from the British Raj, the time is ripe for each and every Sri Lankan to take stock of the achievements, fruits and figs of independence.

When the British granted independence to Sri Lanka, they left Sri Lanka with an impressive system of education together with a highly skillful bureaucracy, teachers and an academic community which was in par with their counterparts in any part of the world.

Although golden beaches, ruined cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa some of the world heritage sites, and the spell-binding scenic beauty of the hill country entice thousands of tourists to the country, Sri Lanka has not exploited it's potentials as a hot-tourist destination for high spending tourists.

Sri Lanka's would-be economic growth has been hampered by a protracted conflict in the North and East which has a spill over effect on almost every aspect of life, rendering thousands of civillian refugees and claiming the lives of many others.

It has still remained as the major stumbling block in the road to sustainable development.

The ever increasing cost of living, the gulf between the haves and have-nots, rural urban disparity, higher unemployment rate, especially in the villages scattered over the country, dependence of economy on primary goods and remittance from the large number of expatriate workers, are some of the challenges that the nation confronts when it steps onto the new year.