The Doghouse

All roads lead to doom; that's what seems to best describe transport policymaking in Sri Lanka since independence. On this episode of the Doghouse Nadim Majeed speaks to Prof. Amal Kumarage, head of the Moratuwa University's Department of Transport & Logistics, on his decades of research on the subject. We're covering everything from colonial history to the present day. 

Sri Lanka's economic crisis has become a favourite case study/guinea pig for parties seeking to push a certain narrative or to cherry-pick issues to discount others. From currency boards and the myth of the Chinese debt trap to the "ESG" spellbinding of the Green elites, it appears that every blue tick has their own narrative spin on what caused Sri Lanka's economic crisis.

On August 3, President Ranil Wickremesinghe opened the 3rd session of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka, delivering his policy statement. The problem though is that while the President acknowledged facts in terms of the economic crisis and set out some lofty goals, he failed to tell us how he plans to reach those goals.

In a nutshell - we got the what and the why, but not the how, or the when.

This week on the Doghouse we're analysing the economic goals set forth by President Wickremesinghe, Our resident economist Umesh Moramudali takes us through realistic timelines for these goals and a potential agreement with the IMF.

This week Nadim and Yudhanjaya discuss the crisis of legitimacy facing the Sri Lankan government. What happens when a parliament that has seemingly lost its mandate from the people, elects from among themselves a President who has no mandate?

Sri Lanka needs elections for democracy to prevail, but there are a number of hurdles we need to jump. We're discussing the legal/constitutional obstacles, the IMF question, and of course the cost of running an election in a bankrupt country short on food, electricity, and fuel among other essentials. 

7 Billion Rupee Software???

What does the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation want, exactly? 

Well if you want to combine the functionality of Google, Uber, Adobe, Canva, and a myriad of other existing tech solutions, you could consider 7 billion rupees to be cheap. We wouldn't touch this beast even if the amount was ten times higher.

We read the documentation so you don’t have to. Welcome to one of the stupidest software requests we’ve seen.

This week on the Doghouse Amalini De Sayrah and Nadim Majeed take us through their journey across some of the major agricultural districts in the country, investigating the impact of the sudden ban on synthetic fertilisers.

Power cuts, queues for everything from food to fuel; why is the Sri Lankan economy in this sorry state? On the first episode of the doghouse we give you an overview of the current situation and the 'policies' that have brought about this mess.