As Sri Lanka confronts the massive destruction left behind by Cyclone Ditwah, the conversation around rebuilding must finally shift from sentiment to strategy. Early assessments indicate that the cost of reconstruction will be in the range of US$4–5 billion, making it one of the most expensive natural disasters in our history. Donations are flowing in, and the government has established a National Rebuilding Fund, but this alone will not be enough. The country needs a coherent, forward-looking recovery plan one grounded in economic logic rather than political optics.
Rebuilding is not an act of charity. It is a national economic priority. The devastation has affected every sector: transport networks are shattered, agricultural belts submerged, manufacturing disrupted, and tens of thousands of small businesses pushed to the brink. Treating this as a welfare exercise, where relief is restricted to only the visibly affected, would be a grave strategic error.
We must remember the economic lesson of COVID-19: we vaccinated an entire nation, not merely those who were infected, because a partial recovery is no recovery at all. The same principle applies now. Sri Lanka needs a broad-based stimulus, not selective handouts. The rebuilding fund should channel capital towards infrastructure, logistics, agriculture, digital systems, and crucially the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector, which is the true backbone of our economy.
This is where Sri Lanka has consistently failed to learn from global models. Consider Singapore, a country that built its modern economic strength on the foundation of SMEs. Nearly 70% of Singapore’s businesses are small to medium-sized enterprises, and they form the nation’s innovation engine, employment generator, and growth driver. Sri Lanka, however, continues to tilt its economic structure toward monopolies and politically-connected conglomerates systems that benefit a handful of wealthy businessmen while the general public pays the price through higher costs, restricted choices, and stifled competition.
If Cyclone Ditwah teaches us anything, it is that concentration of economic power is a vulnerability. When monopolies falter, entire supply chains collapse. When SMEs falter, communities collapse. Rebuilding must therefore prioritise SME revitalisation: grants for recovery, low-interest lending, tax relief, insurance support, and integration into national reconstruction projects. Every rupee spent through the SME ecosystem generates far greater multiplier effects than money funneled into monopolistic corporate structures.
Sri Lanka now has a rare opportunity born out of catastrophe to redesign its economic future. We can choose a model that empowers thousands of entrepreneurs, expands the middle class, and builds resilience across districts. Or we can follow the old path of concentrating resources in the hands of a few, widening inequality, and weakening the very economic fabric we are trying to restore.
The path forward is clear. Rebuilding Sri Lanka requires stimulus, not charity. Competition, not monopolies. Investment, not handouts. The nation must embrace a development model that is broad-based, inclusive, and future-focused. Cyclone Ditwah may have destroyed much, but it also gives us the mandate to rebuild smarter and to rebuild for everyone.
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