Our Reporter

Our Reporter

‘Our Reporter’ is a collective byline representing a team of Jaffna- and Sri Lanka-based journalists and editorial staff who contribute to Jaffna Monitor.

Sri Lanka, Japan Begin Work on Export-Oriented Industrial Corridor

Sri Lanka, Japan Begin Work on Export-Oriented Industrial Corridor

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka and Japan have begun work on plans for an export-oriented industrial corridor, setting up a joint working group to identify priorities and a timetable for the project. The first meeting of the Sri Lanka-Japan Joint Working Group on Export-Oriented Industrial Corridor Development was held at the Japanese Embassy in Colombo on Aug. 25. The group was established following an agreement reached at an intergovernmental economic policy dialogue in February, where the tw
August 2026 Economics
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Bimal Says Government Has Final Say on Jaffna Airport and KKS. Critics Call It Racism

Bimal Says Government Has Final Say on Jaffna Airport and KKS. Critics Call It Racism

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka will decide when and how to develop Jaffna International Airport and Kankesanthurai Port even if India provides financial assistance for the projects, Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake, a politician increasingly accused by Tamil critics of being hostile to the development of the north, said in Jaffna. Mr. Rathnayake, the minister of transport and highways and the governing National People’s Power’s chief coordinator for the Northern Province, has been accused by
August 2026 Economics
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Australian Senator Urges Government to Press Sri Lanka Over Chemmani Mass Grave

Australian Senator Urges Government to Press Sri Lanka Over Chemmani Mass Grave

CANBERRA, Australia —An Australian senator has urged his government to raise the Chemmani mass grave with Sri Lanka in bilateral talks and at the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for independent forensic scrutiny of the site and protection of the evidence recovered from it. David Shoebridge, a Greens senator for New South Wales, told the Australian Senate that Canberra should act on its stated commitments to accountability in Sri Lanka. "This means supporting the preservation of the
JM Exclusive August 2026
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Former Sri Lankan Parliamentary Leaders Reject Audit Findings on Fuel Use
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena

Former Sri Lankan Parliamentary Leaders Reject Audit Findings on Fuel Use

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s former Speaker and deputy speaker have rejected the findings of a special government audit that raised questions about millions of rupees spent on fuel and the use of multiple vehicles during their time in office. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the former Speaker, and Ajith Rajapakse, the former deputy speaker, said they had committed no wrongdoing and called for a formal investigation, saying they were prepared to answer questions about the expenditure. Their denia
August 2026
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Jaffna’s Beloved ‘Kala Miss,’ Who Devoted Her Life to Chemistry, Dies at 59

Jaffna’s Beloved ‘Kala Miss,’ Who Devoted Her Life to Chemistry, Dies at 59

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka —Kala Namasivayam, a chemistry teacher whose resonant voice and patient instruction guided generations of students in northern Sri Lanka through one of the school system’s most demanding subjects, chemistry, died on Thursday. She was 59. The cause was cancer, according to doctors who treated her. Ms. Namasivayam taught at Kokuvil Hindu College and at Jaffna Hindu Ladies' College, two of the district's prominent schools, and for years ran private chemistry classes that drew st
Obituary August 2026
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Sri Lanka Braces for Food Supply Disruptions as El Niño May Curb Indian Exports

Sri Lanka Braces for Food Supply Disruptions as El Niño May Curb Indian Exports

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka is drawing up contingency plans to guard against disruptions to essential food imports from India, as the anticipated return of El Niño raises fears that adverse weather could damage Indian agricultural output and prompt New Delhi to restrict exports, a government minister said. R.M. Jayawardena, the deputy minister of trade, commerce and food security, said officials were examining how the country should respond if India- -one of its most important sources of foo
August 2026 Monitor Memo
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Jaffna’s Lavin’s Restaurant Fined Nearly Rs. 1 Million Over Rs. 200 Bottle of Water

Jaffna’s Lavin’s Restaurant Fined Nearly Rs. 1 Million Over Rs. 200 Bottle of Water

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A restaurant in Jaffna that had previously drawn attention for its pricing has been fined 950,000 rupees after selling a one-liter bottle of drinking water for 200 rupees, well above the government-set maximum retail price of 120 rupees, Sri Lanka’s Consumer Affairs Authority said. The Jaffna Magistrate’s Court imposed the fine on Lavin’s Vegetarian Family Restaurant on Aug. 25, following legal action brought by investigators from the Consumer Affairs Authority’s Jaffna dist
August 2026 Monitor Memo
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Justice Minister Says the PTA Is Going. Critics Fear It Is Old Toddy in a New Glass

Justice Minister Says the PTA Is Going. Critics Fear It Is Old Toddy in a New Glass

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Harshana Nanayakkara, Sri Lanka’s justice minister, said the government would repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the end of this year, calling the 47-year-old law incompatible with fundamental human rights. But the government is not abandoning special counterterrorism legislation. It plans to replace the law with the Protection of the State from Terrorism Act, or PSTA, an effort that has already faced opposition from rights groups and civil society organizations that
August 2026 Monitor Memo
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