Former Foreign Minister Ali Sabry PC has urged the country to transform the national tragedy caused by Cyclone Ditwah into a turning point for long-term reform and reconstruction. In an extended statement titled “Never Waste a Crisis,” Sabry called on political leaders and citizens to rebuild the country “stronger, smarter, and more resilient than before.”
He noted that Sri Lanka today stands “bruised not only by rain and wind, but by the unimaginable force of nature,” citing official figures that place deaths and missing persons close to 1,000, while damage has impacted more than 70% of the rail network, destroyed over 1,000 houses, and left tens of thousands more partially damaged. He added that hundreds of kilometres of roads and businesses have been destroyed, shattering livelihoods across the country.
Sabry stressed that the question facing the nation is not what was lost, but how it chooses to respond. “We must not waste this crisis,” he said, urging the government to seize the moment to modernize agriculture, build climate-smart infrastructure, create jobs through reconstruction and invest in digital innovation.
He proposed a disaster-resilient rebuilding strategy that includes improved irrigation, higher-yield climate-resistant seeds, stronger housing and bridges, new drainage systems, zoning reforms, GIS mapping, and real-time disaster modelling. Reconstruction, he argued, should become a major employment generator, saying it could be the biggest job creation drive since independence.
Sabry drew comparisons with countries that turned tragedy into transformation, noting how Japan rebuilt stronger after the 2011 tsunami, the Philippines modernized farming after Typhoon Haiyan, Germany rose from post-war ruins, and Rwanda emerged from conflict into stability.
“Great nations are not defined by what breaks them, but by what they build after they are broken,” he said, adding that rebuilding must honour victims “not with sorrow alone, but with purpose.”
He concluded that Sri Lanka now faces a defining moment: “To turn devastation into development, pain into progress, and crisis into opportunity… Never waste a crisis.” (Newswire)