Sunday, June 28, 2015

Ghosts Of War Give Way to Development in Sri Lanka

A woman operates a poultry farm in her garden, in the village of Thunukkai in Sri Lanka’s northern Mullaittivu District. Absent a steady supply of jobs in more formal sectors, scores of women run cottage industries as a means of generating income since the end of the war. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPSThis bullet-pocked building, located in the Pallai area some 35 km south of Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna town, stands in contrast to the newly paved road, freshly laid rail tracks and modern buildings cropping up around it. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS
A mother and her son wait on the side of the road in Kilinochchi, once the site of heavy battles and now a bustling town on Sri Lanka’s major northern highway. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPSDespite economic gains, poverty is still a major concern in Sri Lanka’s north, with one in every six persons living below the poverty line. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS


This bullet-pocked building, located in the Pallai area some 35 km south of Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna town, stands in contrast to the newly paved road, freshly laid rail tracks and modern buildings cropping up around it. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS
By Amantha Perera-Friday, June 26, 2015
JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Jun 26 2015 (IPS) - It is an oasis from the scorching heat outside. The three-storey, centrally air-conditioned Cargills Square, a major mall in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna town, is the latest hangout spot in the former warzone, where everyone from teenagers to families to off-duty military officers converge.