The River That Broke Through the Barriers (2026)

Chapters 1–2

From a radio studio to a Municipal Secretary's desk

Kariyawasam began as a sound controller at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, recruited in 1969 and specially trained, before entering the Sri Lanka Administrative Service and taking his first post as Moratuwa Municipal Secretary.

By his own account, a Radio Commission report later found that he had been deliberately passed over for promotions his qualifications and service record should have earned him.

“Mr. Gamini Kariyawasam, with higher educational qualifications, who was recruited in 1969 and specially trained, was deliberately omitted from these posts.”

Quoted in the book from an official Radio Commission report.

Chapters 3–6

Charity Commissioner, Independent Television, and Kandy

As Charity Commissioner he worked alongside President Premadasa's welfare housing projects and founded the Pathum Sevana children's home in Horana. He then served as General Manager of Independent Television Network before becoming Municipal Commissioner of Kandy.

He returned to broadcasting as Director General, overseeing the institution where his own career had begun decades earlier.

Chapters 7–10

Irrigation, Justice, Health, and Ayurveda

As Senior Assistant Secretary he served across the Ministries of Irrigation Power and Energy, Justice, and Health, before becoming Commissioner of Ayurveda — a post in which he worked with the Ayurvedic Medical Council and expanded hospital and publishing work for the department.

Chapters 11–13

Kotte, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Bonn, Germany

As Municipal Commissioner of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte he commissioned research into the city's history as the seat of the former Kotte kingdom. He then moved into consular affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before being posted to Germany as Sri Lankan Consul General in Bonn, serving Sri Lankan citizens living there from 2003.

Chapters 14–18

Colombo, Ratnapura, Urban Development, and Social Services

Later postings took him through the Colombo Municipal Council, Additional District Secretary of Ratnapura, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply, Secretary of the Buddha Jayanthi Project Secretariat, and Director of Social Services.

Chapters 19–21

The Tower Hall Theatre Foundation and life after retirement

As Director General of the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation he secured an increase to the monthly allowance paid to the country's oldest surviving stage artists and researched the theatre's history back to 1911.

After retiring from government service he continued in NGO leadership roles, including opening the world's first Mangrove Museum with Seacology, and remained a longstanding contributor to the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association.

Inside The River That Broke Through the Barriers