|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 13 August 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Letters | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Sports Obituaries
|
Please forward your letters to editor@dailynews.lk in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
Finger printing for visa applicants The issue of finger printing by the British High Commission for visa applicants at the Colombo office has become a topic for discussion. There had been many letters in the press. A member has raised this issue at the Parliament as well. In the early days, fingerprints were used exclusively for "illiterate" people - those who could not produce a consistent signature. Later, finger printing became mandatory for certain administrative matters like the Employees Provident Fund. Basic fact is that, each person has a unique set of fingerprints. It is not only the face that is unique to us. Fingerprints, the pupils of our eyes, the shape of our palm etc. are all unique to a person. These are classified as biometric parameters. Any one or more of these parameters are adequate to identify a person. Of course, for human brain, the appearance of the face is the easiest. But, facial appearance changes over time. That is why you are asked to provide a "recent photograph". In respect of electronic devices like computers, recognizing an individual from a photograph amongst 6 million people is very difficult. Although the human brain can do this in a fraction of a second. But it is very easy to make a machine to identify fingerprints. In fact such devices are being used in many parts of the world, including Sri Lanka for simple activities like recording attendance or security checkpoints to admit selected staff to confidential locations. What the British High Commission is trying to do is to incorporate information on fingerprint into the visa. No one objected when we applied for visa we were asked to produce copies of recent photographs of our face. Had the British High Commission asked us to produce two copies of photographs of our fingerprints, would we have objected? If so why? What is the difference in providing photographs of our faces or our fingerprints? This whole issue is blown out of proportion to make political capital. The world is advancing very fast in the field of information technology. Very soon we will be able to travel about without the need to carry any form of hard copy versions of identification papers, visas, passports or even money. All will be dynamically available at any point in the world. You only have to present yourself. From your biometric parameters such as fingerprint, pupil of the eye or the shape of your hand your identity will be established and all your credentials will be available at any point of the world at the flick of a switch. Let us be prepared. P.G. JOSEPH, Nugegoda I was absolutely horrified by the implementation of biometric fingerprinting for Sri Lankans by the British High Commission in Colombo. This high-handed act surely goes beyond all forms of human rights and international sovereignty. This scam is as derogatory as AIDS checks on British tourists arriving here. Probably the main reason for the British to use Sri Lankans as guinea pigs in their 'pilot project' is the Sri Lankans lack of national dignity, their willingness to accept anything free and, the absence of protest demonstrations or riots to any injustice perpetrated by foreigners. Huge numbers of bogus asylum claims, sound quite bogus. Though the British call this a 'pilot project', the fact is, it will never be implemented anywhere else in the world, simply because it won't be allowed! The British wouldn't dare use biometric fingerprinting in countries such as China, India or Zimbabwe. Stop issuing visas if you have to, but don't harass and humiliate innocent Sri Lankan citizens. S. LIYANAGE, via email Crime and violence cannot be completely eradicated from the face of the earth, yet it can be minimised to a great extent if capital punishment is re-introduced. It will certainly act as a deterrent to curb the escalating rate of rape, murder and organized crime that is rampant in our country today. If we adopt Hitler's view 'shoot a few and the rest will fall in line' then perhaps a few executions could act as an eye opener for the rest who might think twice about committing a crime or paying the ultimate price. It is always better to get one guilty person die than to let ten innocent people die. I believe capital punishment should be re-introduced but it should be justified and proven beyond all doubt that the accused is guilty. This may be an ancient system brought in but since "desperate maladies require desperate remedies", in a country that is deep rooted in crime at its highest, however old fashioned it may sound it is an effective and bold step which could be a deterrent although it will not wipe out crime and violence totally. For this to succeed, the system dealing with Capital Punishment has to have a high level of discipline and integrity. It is absolutely essential that all forms of bribery and corruption be removed at all levels in the respective systems. Power, money and politics should not be allowed to sway the Judiciary or the justice system. Discipline and integrity should be the keynote on which the Judiciary should revolve, for justice to prevail at all costs. If the above measures are taken into consideration then re-introducing the death penalty could bring about a just and fair society whereby all peace loving citizens could live without fear and with self-respect and respect for all thus upholding the value of life. It is only then, can we call Sri Lanka, a paradise. THERESE, Colombo 7 It is strange to see that some people are worried about the implementation of the death sentence after due process of the law. On the other hand criminal elements are passing death sentences and executing them in the most horrendous manner, and few tears are shed for the innocents who are done to death. These persons are worried about a mis-carriage of justice. Surely sufficient safeguards exist with several stages of appeal that such instances are indeed rare. Society has a sacred duty to safeguard the public from summary execution by gangsters, and such miscreants should be dealt with according to the law speedily. Today Colombo is like a city under siege. Nearly every house is protected by high walls and gates, and in some cases security personnel are at the gate. The vast masses have no such protection and it is the duty of the State to provide climate of safety and security by enacting laws and enforcing them rigorously. The execution of the death sentence is one of them. The effect of it may take years, as only when children learn of the punishment awaiting murderous acts and grow up in such a belief that such crimes may decrease. S. WEERASEKERA The recent letters on the above are very well taken. Architects here in the States have worked under legislation to implement handicapped access at least since 1990. The law is called The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The comments are right on the mark. The ADA here in the States is not so much a code of building practice as it is a Civil Rights Act - a statement of fundamental rights of the individual. I work for an architectural firm that spends most of its time designing schools and other public buildings. Here are some things we have learned. New structures are the easiest to be built to provide handicapped accessibility; whether owned by the government or by private citizens. Thus, shops, cinemas, offices, and places of worship can have what we call "equivalent access" to the facilities. The added cost to a new structure to make it accessible is minimal. The most obvious are ramps, lifts, and accessibility to public toilet facilities. If equivalent accommodation is available on the ground floor (e.g., a bank teller, that might otherwise be on the first or second floor), it may be that a lift is not required. There is no question that it is more difficult to facilitate these changes in existing buildings; exceptions are made for some few historic buildings, and in cases of extreme financial hardship to the owner. But often a creative designer can minimize the cost and provide adequate equivalent accessibility. There is an unexpected phenomenon that we have discovered after a few years of providing accessibility. The non-disabled public enjoys the changes made. Perfectly ambulatory individuals often use ramps; you can walk casually up a ramp and converse, and fiddle with your belongings and so forth, without stubbing your toe on a step (as I do). (I have seen a ramp at the Galle Face.) Toilet stalls that are large enough to accommodate a wheelchair are also large enough for mothers to accompany their small children. Vendors with carts use the small ramps (we call them "curb cuts") at street curbs to mount or dismount the sidewalk. So what of design standards? What changes should be made and how? The United Nations has a web site devoted to accessibility: http://www.unescap.org/sps/sdinfo/disablinks.htm The US has design standards, as well as the European community. I am sure there are many other sources for standards. Each governing agency should decide what is appropriate. Could Sri Lanka benefit by enacting her own version of the Sri Lankans with Disabilities Act? JIM WILLIAMS, Phillips Metsch Sweeney Moore Architects, |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
