Arugam Bay, a key tourism hotspot in Sri Lanka was affected economically after the Easter Sunday attacks, affecting the livelihoods of many local establishments for over 3 months. Since of late however, the situation has been improving. The Catamaran spoke with business owners in the area to find out more.

This may be a story that makes many people wonder because the picture painted around Kathankudi is an entirely different one. A fair in which any person from anywhere in the country can come and trade is a rare phenomenon anywhere in the island, but to host one in a location that has been gaining much negative propaganda after the Easter Sunday attacks is even more significant. The Catamaran investigated.

When they returned to their homes after the war, most had nothing but the clothes on their backs.

A project that funds former inmates into their own small business is finding success. One of its basic tenets is that it does not discriminate.

Grocery packaging tends to use English, even though it is only the third national language. Many Sri Lankans are uncertain what they’re buying and what is inside.

Employers advertising for household help often ask that the applicant come from an “upcountry estate”. Poverty and lack of education means these women will work longer hours for less.

Displaced Sri Lankans who were resettled after the civil war cannot find jobs, take the bus or even grow their vegetables in their new villages.

The coal plant in Norocholai may provide electricity to many Sri Lankans but for those living nearby, it is poisoning their farms, their fish and their children.

Explosives, trespassers, environmental damage – fishermen in northern Sri Lankan say that if nothing is done about these, soon there won’t be a fishing sector left.

Sri Lanka’s fishermen are a long standing part of the island nation’s culture and economy. But after surviving war and natural disaster, they are now being driven out by big business.

Handicapped man Thiagarajah Sothinathan has not been able to walk properly since he was a child. But that has not stopped him from becoming a hero in his own town.

Although they are surrounded by beautiful coastline and can go fishing for a living, potable water is in short supply for many in the Silawathura area.

Locals in Chilaw are complaining about a garbage dump near their homes. But when the government asks them to separate waste and recycle, nobody seems willing.

A move by India to cut down on its ‘black money’ market has left average Sri Lankans with wads of worthless Indian rupees.

The fishermen living around the Nachchikuda lagoon have seen their share of hard times. But now they feel the future is brighter.

The former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Chandra Jayaratne, talks to The Catamaran about why Sri Lanka’s economic development is going nowhere.