Police have confirmed that the individual who was critically injured in a shooting incident in the Jinthupitiya area of Colombo last night (16) has died after being admitted to the National Hospital of Colombo.

The deceased has been identified as a 44-year-old man, police said.

In the same incident, a three-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy sustained injuries and were admitted to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo for treatment.

The shooting reportedly occurred at a location known as 125 Watta in Jinthupitiya. According to police, a group of individuals arrived at the scene in a three-wheeler, opened fire, and fled the area.

Police said investigations are underway to identify and apprehend the suspects involved in the shooting.

Sri Lanka’s fragile investment recovery faces renewed pressure as foreign-backed infrastructure projects encounter regulatory roadblocks, raising concerns over policy inconsistency and investor protection. The most recent flashpoint is the Ambuluwawa Cable Car Project, where Amber Adventures Ltd. warns that nearly USD 3.5 million already invested could be lost due to what it describes as unlawful regulatory interference.

In a formal communication to the Board of Investment (BOI), Amber Adventures stated that government actions have abruptly disrupted a project that had obtained comprehensive approvals from all relevant authorities. These include the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Urban Development Authority, National Building Research Organisation (NBRO), Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Ministry of Defence, Cabinet of Ministers, and the BOI itself.

The crisis emerged following a January 2026 letter from the CEA suspending construction activities, allegedly based on unverified public complaints and social media claims, pending a site inspection. The company insists the suspension lacks a legal foundation and undermines regulatory due process.

The Ambuluwawa project is a USD 12.75 million public-private partnership structured under a build-operate-transfer model. All financial and operational risks are borne by the investor, while the completed cable car valued at over Rs. 5 billion is scheduled to be transferred to the government free of charge after 13 years. Amber Adventures argues that halting such projects deprives the State of future assets while sending damaging signals to global investors.

Notably, the investment was secured during Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis, when foreign capital inflows were critically scarce. According to the company, regulatory reversals at this stage threaten to undo hard-won investor confidence and discourage future inflows at a time when economic recovery remains fragile.

Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) has refuted the claim that Chinese investor Amber Adventures Pvt. Limited has exited the Rs. 5 billion worth Ambuluwawa cable car project, as both entities are awaiting the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, and the Central Environmental Authority to present substantiated environmental concerns, BOI Media and Publicity Director Leslie Uduwavidane said .

“If they are pulling out, they should officially inform us. The letter that we have received is the one where they are conveying their grievances,” Uduwavidane said, refuting claims which state that the Chinese company had officially pulled out of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model project.

“We are waiting on the Bureau of Geology and the CEA to get together and present any information they see that would create a problem in the future. The environmental issue is a recent development, no one expected this issue,” he said, emphasising the possible geographical changes the environment surrounding the project may have undergone, due to cyclone Ditwah, between November and December last year.

The aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah did more than replenish Sri Lanka’s reservoirs. It exposed deep structural weaknesses in the country’s power sector that now threaten macroeconomic stability, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) December 2025 Economic and Social Infrastructure Digest.

While above-average rainfall in late 2024 and 2025 temporarily boosted hydropower output, the Central Bank cautions that reliance on climate-driven windfalls is a dangerous illusion. Cyclone-induced reservoir gains may have softened generation costs in the short term, but they also underscored the economy’s vulnerability to weather volatility—an increasingly common risk in a climate-stressed region.

CBSL’s central warning is blunt: without urgent reforms to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and sustained cost-reflective pricing, Sri Lanka risks repeating the fiscal and financial instability that defined its recent economic crisis.

The report strongly defends the continuation of cost-reflective electricity tariffs even beyond the IMF program, arguing that politically motivated price controls have historically transferred massive liabilities to the banking system and the Treasury. Untargeted subsidies, particularly those introduced outside the national Budget, are flagged as hidden fiscal bombs that previously detonated during the crisis years.

Tariff discipline, the Central Bank argues, is not merely about balancing CEB’s books. It is about shielding the broader economy from sudden shocks, maintaining investor confidence, and preventing destabilising debt accumulation. The report calls for a forward-looking tariff framework with transparent forecasting and timely adjustments to avoid sharp price swings that unsettle households and businesses.

Ironically, the cyclone-boosted hydropower surge also highlighted a paradox. Despite renewable potential, Sri Lanka remains heavily dependent on expensive thermal and coal generation. Electricity tariffs remain higher than regional peers, eroding industrial competitiveness even as consumers shoulder rising costs.

The CBSL notes that subsidy removal has quietly accelerated renewable adoption. Households and firms, facing true energy costs, have increasingly turned to rooftop solar and self-generation. Yet the national grid has failed to keep pace. Transmission inefficiencies, outdated infrastructure, and limited storage capacity continue to trigger both scheduled and unscheduled outages—even during periods of adequate generation.

Institutional reform is therefore central to CBSL’s prescription. The unbundling of the CEB into four state-owned entities under the Electricity Act of 2024 and its 2025 amendment is presented as a turning point. The aim: attract private capital, introduce competition, and improve governance while aligning the sector with a National Electricity and Tariff Policy.

Financial data reinforces the urgency. Despite a record Rs. 148.6 billion profit in 2024, aggressive tariff cuts through early 2025 made amid rising thermal generation costs quickly reversed gains. Losses mounted until a corrective tariff hike in June 2025 restored profitability.

Cyclone Ditwah may have filled reservoirs, but the Central Bank’s message is clear: weather cannot substitute for reform. Without structural change, the next storm economic or climatic could be far more destructive.

Sri Lanka’s post-crisis economic recovery suffered a severe reversal following Cyclone Ditwah, the deadliest disaster since the 2004 tsunami, exposing structural weaknesses that years of fiscal tightening and uneven reforms failed to resolve. As of January 2026, recovery remains slow, constrained not only by the scale of devastation but also by policy inertia and administrative missteps under the National People’s Power (NPP) government.

According to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assessment, nearly 95% of surveyed communities across 22 districts reported damage to homes, roads, industrial sites, and community infrastructure after the cyclone struck on 26 November 2025. Floodwaters inundated almost 20% of Sri Lanka’s landmass, exposing an estimated 2.3 million people to direct impacts. Housing and transport networks—pillars of local commerce—were most severely affected, disrupting supply chains and isolating economic activity.

The disaster’s economic shock has been profound. Ninety-three percent of respondents confirmed widespread livelihood losses, including destroyed crops, livestock deaths, job losses, and shuttered micro and small enterprises. The informal sector, which employs a substantial portion of Sri Lanka’s workforce, absorbed the hardest blow. Many operators lacked insurance, savings, or access to formal credit, pushing households toward high-interest informal borrowing and deepening debt stress.

While the NPP government announced LKR 95 billion in relief for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including a 3% concessional loan scheme, implementation has lagged. Delays in approvals, weak inter-agency coordination, and bureaucratic bottlenecks have slowed disbursement. UNDP findings point to shortages of construction materials, skilled labour constraints, and financing gaps as persistent barriers preventing communities from rebuilding.

Environmental and public health risks further complicate recovery. Local officials reported contaminated water sources, soil erosion, and ecosystem damage threats that undermine agricultural productivity and heighten long-term vulnerability. These risks reflect a broader regional trend, as South Asia faces intensifying climate shocks linked to global warming.

UNDP has emphasized that short-term relief alone will not stabilize Sri Lanka’s economy. Without accelerated recovery spending, targeted support for informal workers, and climate-resilient reconstruction, vulnerable populations risk falling back into poverty. As of early 2026, the cyclone has become a stress test for the NPP government’s reform credentials revealing a widening gap between ambitious promises and ground-level execution.

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has doubled down on Sri Lanka with a fresh USD 300 million foreign direct investment into Port City Colombo, even as serious doubts grow over whether the country’s new Marxist JVP-led National People’s Power (NPP) government can convert concrete into cash flows.

The investment, earmarked for Phase II development, follows an earlier USD 1.25 billion sunk into land reclamation and infrastructure making Port City one of the largest single Chinese-backed urban developments in South Asia.

CHEC’s message is one of confidence. The company describes Port City as a “generational project,” not a speculative real-estate play. Phase II funding will expand internal infrastructure, utilities, and core services within Sri Lanka’s first multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ), theoretically laying the groundwork for a global financial and services hub.

But behind the optimistic statements lies a more uncomfortable reality: Sri Lanka has built the city, but not the system to run it.

The NPP government, dominated by the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has no track record in international investment promotion, financial-services regulation, or SEZ governance.

Its historical hostility toward foreign capital, privatization, and offshore finance directly contradicts the very business model Port City depends on. Investors are not blind to ideology, and early signals from Colombo have raised alarms rather than reassurance.

The Board of Investment (BOI), still operating with decades-old procedures and a manufacturing-era mindset, remains the primary interface for investors.

In an age where competing hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and India’s GIFT City offer regulatory certainty, tax stability, and autonomous financial courts, Sri Lanka continues to offer delays, discretion, and political interference.

CHEC’s USD 300 million commitment may reflect long-term strategic patience but private global capital is far less forgiving.

Financial institutions, offshore service providers, and multinational firms demand clarity on tax regimes, capital repatriation, dispute resolution, and regulatory independence.

To date, the NPP government has failed to clearly articulate how Port City will be insulated from domestic politics and ideological experimentation.

There is also a deeper geopolitical subtext. China’s continued investment positions Beijing as the only player willing to absorb Sri Lanka’s political risk premium. While this keeps Port City alive, it risks narrowing the project’s investor base turning what was meant to be a global financial hub into a lopsided, single-partner venture.

Port City Colombo stands at a dangerous inflection point. The infrastructure is world-class. The funding is real.

But unless the government rapidly modernizes investment policy, empowers an independent Port City regulator, and distances the project from ideological posturing, Sri Lanka may discover that billions in Chinese capital cannot compensate for policy paralysis.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to dispatch a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka from January 22 to January 28 to assess the damage caused by the recent Cyclone Ditwah.

IMF Communications Department Director Julie Kozack said the mission will also engage in discussions on related policy implications under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.

She emphasised that the visit is purely a fact-finding exercise, intended to help the IMF gain a clearer understanding of the situation on the ground.

A new tourism concept known as the ‘Bustaurant’—a luxury bus equipped with hotel-style facilities—was officially launched today (January 15) in Dambulla.

The project has been initiated with the support of several state institutions, including the Dambulla Municipal Council and the Pradeshiya Sabha.

The service allows tourists to travel along scenic rural routes to key historical and cultural sites such as Dambulla, Pelwehera, Inamaluwa, Kimbissa, Sigiriya and Pidurangala, while enjoying food and beverages on board in a relaxed setting.

Passengers are also offered views of picturesque reservoirs including Randenigama, Ibbankatuwa and Kandalama, along with surrounding paddy fields, enhancing the overall travel experience.

The first Bustaurant journey, carrying both local and foreign tourists, commenced today, offering a full-day excursion with modern facilities while exploring Sigiriya and its surrounding attractions.

In line with the Government’s programme to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the 20-megawatt ‘Windscape Mannar’ wind power plant constructed by CEYLEX Renewables was officially connected to the national grid yesterday (15) under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

According to the President’s Media Division (PMD), the project marks a milestone in Sri Lanka’s energy sector, with the commissioning of four of the country’s largest wind turbines, each with a capacity of 5 megawatts, for the first time in the nation’s energy history.

The PMD noted that the project was implemented entirely by a local company, enabling a significant amount of foreign exchange—otherwise payable to foreign contractors—to be retained within the country, thereby contributing to the strengthening of the domestic economy.

President Dissanayake unveiled the commemorative plaque to officially declare the wind power plant open and also participated in the turbine commissioning ceremony.

The event was attended by Minister of Energy Engineer Kumara Jayakody, Deputy Minister of Energy Arkham Ilyas, Mannar District Secretary K. Kanakeswaran, Ceylon Electricity Board General Manager Engineer Shirley Kumar, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Chairman Professor Wijendra Bandara, CEYLEX Renewables Chief Executive Officer Engineer Sameera Ganegoda, along with company representatives and several other officials.