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Government, Judiciary and Economy in Sri Lanka

Government

1.       The 1978 Constitution changed the country's formal name from the Republic of Sri Lanka to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and established a presidential form of government. The most important national office is that of the president, who is defined in the Constitution as head of state, chief executive and commander in chief of the armed forces. Although governmental institutions are divided in the customary way between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches the president's powers as chief executive are formidable compared to those of the legislature. Legislative powers are exercised by the parliament which has 225 Members, elected by the people. Executive powers including the defence are vested with the Executive President, who is also elected by the public. The prime Minister, Cabinet of Ministers and Members of the Parliament function under the President.

2.       His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakshe democratically elected president of the country and the present Prime Minister is Hon DM Jayarthna.

3.       Local Government - Sri Lanka is a unitary rather than federal state, local government institutions have had a very limited role in the political process. The country traditionally has been divided into nine provinces and twenty-four administrative districts which had played an important administrative role.

Judiciary

4.       The legal system is functioning with Supreme Court, High Court and magistrate Court under the Roman Dutch Law. Maximum penalty is death, but not exercised since 1977. Under the Constitution, the highest court is the Supreme Court, headed by a chief justice and between six and ten associate justices. Supreme and High Court justices are appointed by the president. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review, it can determine whether an act of Parliament is consistent with the principles of the Constitution and whether a referendum must be taken on a proposal. It is also the final court of appeal for all criminal or civil cases.  Country divided into five judicial circuits, subdivided into districts with district courts and divisions with magistrates' courts. Lowest courts are conciliation boards with responsibility for minor criminal and civil cases.

Economy

5.       Economic policy since Independence is divided into two periods. During the first, which lasted from 1948 to 1977, government intervention was often seen as the solution to economic problems. The expansion of government participation in the economy was fairly steady, resulting in a tightly regulated system. This trend was especially marked during the period from 1970 to 1977, when the state came to dominate international trade and payments, the plantation, financial, and industrial manufacturing sectors.

6.       About half of Sri Lankan relies on agriculture for their livelihood. Paddy is cultivated on most parts of the island. Tea, Coconut and Rubber are main agricultural exports of the country. Sri Lanka is the world second largest tea producer and Sri Lanka Tea is considered as the world best tea. Sri Lanka is famous for gems and precious stones. With the introduction of the open market policy economy in 1977, Sri Lanka has come on a long way. With the introduction of Free Trade Zones ready made garments sports goods, rubber based products have become good foreign exchange earners. About 800,000 Sri Lankan works abroad and they send home about $1 billion a year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for a largely independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy. With an economy of $53.241 billion (2010 IMF estimate) ($104.124 billion PPP estimate), and a per capita GDP of about $5,300 (PPP), Sri Lanka has mostly had strong growth rates in recent years. And is far ahead of its other core south Asian peers such as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan 

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Sri Lanka at a glance

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VISIT COLOMBO

INTRODUCTION

1.      Colombo is the largest city and the commercial, industrial and cultural capital of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and near to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte suburb or the parliament capital of Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Western Province, and the district capital of Colombo District.

2.      It is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo. It is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins  with a population of about 642,163 in the city limits. It was the political capital of Sri Lanka, before Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte.

History

4.      As Colombo possesses a natural harbour, it was known to Greeks, Persians, Romans, Arabs, and Chinese traders over 2,000 years ago. Traveller Ibn Batuta who visited the island in the 14th century, referred to it as Kalanpu.  

5.      Muslim Moors whose prime interests were trade began to settle in Colombo around the 8th century mostly because the port helped their business and controlled much of the trade between the Sinhalese kingdoms and the outside world. Their descendants now comprise the local Sri Lankan Moor community.

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

6.      Colombo's geography is a mix of land and water. The city has many canals and, in the heart of the city, the 65-hectare.  Beira Lake is one of the most distinctive landmarks of Colombo, and was used for centuries by colonists to defend the city. It remains a popular attraction, hosting regattas, and theatrical events on its shores. The Northern and North-Eastern border of the city of Colombo is formed by the Kelani River, which meets the sea in a part of the city known as the Modera which means river delta.

7.      Colombo features a tropical monsoon climate. It's climate is fairly temperate all throughout the year. From March to April the temperature averages around 30 degrees Celsius maximum. The only major change in the Colombo weather occurs during the monsoon seasons from May to August and October to January. This is the time of year where heavy rains can be expected. Colombo sees little relative diurnal range of temperature, although this is more marked in the drier winter months, where minimum temperatures average 22 degrees Celsius. Rainfall in the city averages around 2,400 millimeters a year.

DEMOGRAPHICS

8.      Colombo is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural city. The population of Colombo is a mix of numerous ethnic groups, mainly Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Muslims, and Tamils. There are also small communities of people with Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Malay, and Indian origins living in the city, as well as some European also. It is the most populous city in Sri Lanka, with 642,163 people living within the city limits. In 1866 the city had a population of around 80,000.  According to the census of 2012 the demographics of urban Colombo by ethnicity is as shown on screen.

INFRASTRUCTURE

9.      Colombo has most of the amenities that a modern city has. Compared to other parts of the country, Colombo has the highest degree of infrastructure. Electricity, water and transport to street lamps and etc. have a considerably good standard. The majority of the major shopping complexes are in the city. Apart from that, many luxurious hotels, clubs and restaurants are in the city. In recent times there's been an outpour of high condominiums, mainly due to the very high land prices

10.    Colombo Harbour   is the largest and one of the busiest port in Sri Lanka. Colombo was established primarily as a port city during the colonial era, with an artificial harbour that has been expanded over the years. The Sri Lanka Navy maintains a naval base,  within the harbour.

11.    The Port of Colombo handled 3.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2008. Of those, 817,000 were local shipments with the rest transshipments. The port is close to its capacity for container handling. An expansion project, the South Harbour project, will increase the port's capacity

12.    Airports.   Bandaranaike International Airport and Ratmalana International Airport are the city's airports. Bandaranaike Airport serves the city for most international flights, while the Ratmalana Airport primarily serves local flights.

13.    Roads. Post-war development in the Colombo area also involves the construction of numerous expressway grade arterial road routes. The first of these constructed is the Southern Expressway, which goes from southern suburb of Colombo, to Matara in the south of the country. Expressways under construction in the Colombo metropolitan area include the Colombo to Katunayake Expressway which is due to be opened at the end of 2012 and the Colombo orbital bypass Expressway which is due to be opened in 2014.

OTHER TRANSPORT

14.    Colombo has an extensive public transport system based on buses operated both by private operators and the government owned. Train transport in the city is limited since most trains are meant to transport inter cities. However, the Central Bus Stand and Fort Railway Station function as the island’s primary hub for bus and rail transport respectively. Up until the 1970s the city had tram services, which were discontinued.

5.    Other means of transport includes auto rickshaws (commonly called “three wheelers”) and taxicabs. Three wheelers are entirely operated by individuals and hardly regulated whilst cab services are run by private companies and are metered.

EDUCATION

16.    Education institutions in Colombo have a long history. Colombo has many of the prominent public schools in the country, some of them government-owned and others private. Most of the prominent schools in the city date back to the 1800s when they were established during the British colonial rule, such as the Royal College Colombo (1835).

17.    Certain urban schools of Sri Lanka have some religious alignment, this is partly due to the influence of British who established Christian missionary schools. These include the  Bishop's College(1875). After that the Buddhist, Ananda College (1886) and Nalanda College (1888) the Muslim, Zahira College (1892), the Catholic, St. Joseph's College (1896). The religious alignments do not affect the curriculum of the school except for the demographics of the student population.

18.    Higher education in the city has a long history, beginning with the establishment of the Colombo Medical College (1870), the Colombo Law College (1875), School of Agriculture (1884) and the Government Technical College (1893). The first step in the creation of a University in Colombo was taken in 1913.

ARCHITECTURE

19.    Colombo has wildly varying architecture that span centuries and depict many styles. Colonial buildings influenced by the Portuguese, Dutch and British exist alongside structures built in Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Indian and Contemporary architectural styles. No other place is this more evident in the Fort area. Here one may find new constructions as well as historic buildings dating far back as the 1700s

Colombo fort

Dutch-era buildings

British-era buildings

Modern architect 

CULTURE

20.    Colombo's most beautiful festival is the celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death all falling on the same day. In Sinhala this is known as Vesak. During this festival, much of the city is decorated with lanterns, lights and special displays of light (known as thoran). The festival falls in mid May and lasts a week. Many Sri Lankans visit the city to see the lantern competitions and decorations. During this week people distribute, rice, drinks and other food items for free in dunsal which means charity place. These dunsal are popular amongst visitors from the suburbs.

21.    Since there is a large number of Muslims in Colombo, Eid Ul Fitr and Eid Ul Adha are two Islamic festivals that are celebrated in Colombo. Christmas is another major festival. Although Sri Lanka's Christians make up only just over 7% of the population, Christmas is one of the island's biggest festivals. Most streets and commercial buildings light up from the beginning of December and festive sales begin at all shopping centres and department stores.

22.    Colombo has several performing arts centers which are popular for their musical and theatrical performances. The most famous performing arts centers are the Lionel Wendt Theatre, the Elphinstone, and Tower Hall, all of which have a very rich history and made for western style productions. The Navarangahala found in the city is the country's first national theatre designed and build for Asian and local style musical and theatrical productions.

23.    The Nelum Pokuna Performing Arts Theatre is a world-class theatre that opened in December 2011. Designed in the form of the Lotus Pond in Polonnaruwa, the theatre is a major theatre destination. And the same time modern Weston culture also not less.

MUSEUMS AND ART COLLECTIONS

24.    The National Museum of Colombo, established on 1 January 1877 during the tenure of the British Colonial Governor Sir William Henry Gregory, is in the Cinnamon Gardens area. The museum houses the crown jewels and throne of the last king of the kingdom of Kandy, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha

SPORTS

25.    Undoubtedly the most popular sport in Sri Lanka is cricket. Colombo is the home for cricket and other sports also.Country's most popular international cricket stadiums, Sinhalese Sports Club's cricket stadium and R. Premadasa Stadium stablished in Colombo. And also rugby grounds, hokey stadiums and Sri Lanka National Indoor stadium also established here.

OFFICIAL VISION & MISSION 

Vision.  Colombo being a model city in Asia, a caring organization looking after interests of citizens and users with an efficient quality service for creation of safe, healthy and wealthy life.

Mission Organization achieving excellence in providing citizen cantered services to the public, customer, optimizing the use of available resources through a competent, motivated and dedicated team.