The report also reviews Sri Lanka 's experience with the tsunami and its aftermath and highlights several short-term as well as longer-term issues that need to be addressed by policy makers. The scaling back of the Rs 5,000 grant for affected households and the new eligibility rules for grant entitlement may need to be reviewed to encourage those affected to re-engage in income earning activities. Additionally, cost escalation in house construction may also require a review of existing schemes if the poorest households are not to fall into a long term debt-poverty trap. Finally, while the concept of buffer zones to achieve coastal environmental protection and minimize the impact of similar natural hazards in future is recognized as having intrinsic merit, the report notes that related issues of livelihood needs, non-discriminatory practices, etc., need to be more carefully examined and thought out before a comprehensive and practicable system can be developed.
In examining emerging medium-term policy issues in Sri Lanka, the report devotes a chapter each in some detail to the following: issues of equity in public education in the country; the pros and cons of private rural agricultural extension as a means of improving productivity and efficiency in the sector; the management of Sri Lanka's interconnection commitments under the WTO telecommunications services liberalization; the status and constraints of the microfinance sector in Sri Lanka; the significance of the issues and implications of the EU labour GSP concessions to Sri Lanka; the problems facing ‘sick' and uncompetitive enterprises in the industrial sector and policy options in the restructuring process; and to assess and offer a more relevant policy approach to devolution in Sri Lanka.
The report is available for sale from the IPS premises, 131, St. Michael's Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka, and bookshops island-wide. International customers could obtain more details regarding purchases by e-mailing the Information and Communication Officer at ico@ips.lk.
For more information, please refer Contact Details and Order Information sections of the IPS Publications Unit.
Table of contents (PDF format 61 KB)
