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| Monday, 6 December 2004 |
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Letters | |
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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.
He who has the wound knows the pain Amnesty International is making its usual noises. Once again it has spoken out against the imposition of the death penalty. The arguments are the same as earlier - intellectual, arid and worst of all, far removed from the ground situation now prevailing in Sri Lanka. A.I. says "The death penalty is a violation of the right to life. It is the ultimate, cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment" impressive, rhetorical and high-pitched. A.I. is very concerned that the murderer has a right to life. Of course he has. But what of the right to life of the man (or woman) the murderer kills in cold blood. Did not that man have the right to life? What of the victim's family condemned to destitution all their lives? Very often, it is a woman with two or three young children. Does A.I. speak up for them or concerned about how they would live without the husband and father and spend the rest of their days? Is it any wonder that many women in this desperate situation have been pushed into prostitution to support their children? Are not these, social issues of tremendous and far-reaching significance? Does A.I. ever speak on these? President Kumaratunga cannot be tied down to a promise she made in 2002. Today, the incidence of organised and pre-meditated crime is horrendous. People are shocked at the violence around them and no one dares to speak out. Criminals and drug barons rule the underworld, and this same underworld has terrorised civil society. Criminals and drug merchants spend large sums of money to buy over Police officers who will then look the other way. Those who cannot be purchased for any love of money are few. That is our tragedy. This is one reason why the kingpins of the underworld are so cocky. Drugs and crime go hand in hand and schoolchildren have been inveigled into the drug world. Is it surprising that some of them have already turned to crime for a living? Many people are still talking of the murder of a bold and fearless High Court Judge who was killed in broad daylight in a carefully planned murder that baffled even the Police. A female High Court Judge was nearly raped in her official residence just a few months ago. A Magistrate in a Southern town was the near victim of a hand grenade attack in the Court itself. A Customs Officer who closed in on a star racketeer was killed in retaliation for doing his duty. Today, criminals have no fear of the law. They are everywhere in armed gangs and could be hired to carry out any type of crime - murder, rape, arson or brutal assault. They are bold and fearless and act in broad daylight. Society has to be made safe from these dare-devil anti-social elements for whom killing is a trade. They have to be removed, so that innocent, law-abiding people can safely live. A.I. and the E.U. can pontificate. It is the law-abiding and innocent people who know the ground situation. It is he who has the wound that knows the pain. O. G. SENEVIRATNE - Rajagiriya Recently two yellow birds have made a nest on a branch of the mango tree in my premises. Normally it is not noticeable unless one carefully looked for it. I noticed it first when I found some small pieces of white polythene on the ground. I think it is interesting to invite the attention of bird watchers, scientists, environmentalists, researchers of building materials, linguists, politicians and those who like new ideas on the following matters. Although there are so many trees in the environment why do these birds build their nests on trees closer to human habitats and on branches very close to doorways? Why do they use polythene materials? Why cannot people stop criticizing the use or misuse of polythene and invent new uses of polythene following the birds? The Sily-Sily bag is a new product. There is a 'D' shaped off-cut which is left behind in using the bags. This is the part among other things these yellow birds have used in building their nest. Is there a word to name this 'D' shaped off-cut? Or have we to coin a new word? Are there bird watchers who are interested in recent behaviour patterns of yellow birds? I do not know either the common name or the scientific name of these birds. Can any one enlighten the general public on these matters? CHANDRASEKARA - Etul Kotte A proposal contained in the budget speech that public servants should voluntarily perform an extra hour of work apparently has not found ready acceptance. In this regard I would wish to make one humble suggestion. Why not the authorities request those willing state pensioners to put in half a day's work in a government office near to their homes free of charge? If properly and cautiously managed, this could be a success. As a pensioner myself, I will not grudge working a few hours daily for gratis. I am sure I am not alone in this way of thinking. V. K. WIJERATNA - Panadura Old Negombo Road, Wattala was until recently a quiet, clean and peaceful residential area. This is no longer so. The 'sand mafia' has taken over this road, mainly during the day, environmentally polluting the road way. By nightfall the 'container mafia' takes over. All sand sales are conducted on this road, which has become a menace to residents and the general public who use this daily in very large numbers. The AGA's office, the Telecom Exchange, the main electrical transformer and a major export oriented garment factory are all situated by this roadway, which is also an alternate road to the main Negombo Road. The youth who conduct the sand sales, numbering about four persons per lorry, (the number of lorries being about 15 to 20) are a law unto themselves. They eat and drink on this roadway, they tease and play pranks on the hundreds of girls employed at the garment factory. The 'container mafia' daily park their containers on either side of this road obstructing traffic and causing accidents. If this was not enough throughout the night they park their containers and trailers, repair their lorries and obstruct the gates of residents. They load and unload their containers using this road as a goods transit point and a night parking lot, sometimes for days and nights causing loud noises and a major nuisance in the area. No one is aware whether it is contraband that is being loaded and unloaded in this surreptious manner at night on a by road. How did this happen? The police are either inefficient, corrupt or do not care. Also a discarded metal collection centre located cheek by jowl within an international school, is polluting the road with metal fragments using it as a loading and unloading area. The environmental authorities just don't seem to care. The laws are there. But none of these government departments or agencies who are expected to implement them are interested in doing their job. Who is going to monitor them? D.C. - Wattala Payment by cheques not allowed It is about two and half months since I returned to this beautiful homeland of mine to lead a quiet life. But what an eventful life it has turned out to be so far, some very annoying, some very disturbing and some too risky to tell. Instead of mulling over these matters, I thought of writing about just one very mundane item, which to my mind is very relevant to Government Banks and businesses. Oh no, not about politics - I know much about it but the events of the past several years are too dirty to sully my hands with, at this stage of my life. There is more to this mundane item than would appear at first reading. I went to two places to buy some things for settling down here in my house: one a costly item and the other relating to a much smaller amount. After selecting the item I wished to buy, I tried to write a cheque, but the sales executive as if in utter disbelief, held up his hand and said no cheques please. I asked him why and he simply said that is Management policy. This happened at both places. I had to go back to the Bank and bring cash and pay. Why do these big companies refuse to accept a cheque. As one bank staff member told me, it is because of much paper work involved. My question is whether this refusal, not perhaps with the companies I dealt with can lead to questionable Income Tax practises. Payment by cheques cannot be played about with, but with payment in cash, anything is possible and who is the loser - it is the Revenue Dept. the Government and ultimately the people. Do not think it is a far-fetched idea. Not identical to the matter I have referred to, but have you read about the US case. This is the largest if not one of the largest companies in the US. Their accounting was done by one of the most prestigious firms. The former was found to have falsified their account with the connivance of the latter, charges were laid, long jail sentences and heavy fines were imposed. Soon other very big companies were caught and some even came forward with confessions. It is a truism that businesses will resort to methods to enhance their profits. Arising out my two experiences, I have a question to the Bankers. Are our cheques meant only for collecting cash from our accounts? You build such grand towers, lend the money earned from our collective amounts and grant big loans to businesses to enable them to make more profits, and when we tender our cheques, the cheques do not seem to be worth the paper it is written on. Please do not tell me about your Card system. I have used many. They are devised by both Banks and businesses to make one purchase not only what one needs but to enable one to purchase where one's fancy leads them to. Both Banks and businesses profits. Needless to say, there are cheque cheaters - not only here but in almost all countries. But you must not colour all with the same brush. It is upto the Banks, businesses and Central Bank to devise ways by which the Government does not lose its proper dues and the people too are benefited by the revenue earned by the Government. What is going on now is an insult to the Banks whose cheques are not worth a fig leaf when it comes to purchases and to honest account holders. It is my firm belief that there are many, many honest account holders. DHARMA There is much talk about overhead bridges and flyovers to ease congestion of road traffic and long hold ups at Railway crossings. We had overhead bridges constructed during the time of the Britishers for passage over rail tracks at Maradana, near Lake House and near Galle Face Hotel. With the increase of road traffic, the overhead bridge at Maradana could not cater to the road traffic and the need for widening of the bridge was necessary. Railway District Engineer T. Chaves (An Anglo Indian) designed a bridge for the site. The abutments were built and the beams were fabricated. This work could not be completed as Darley Road had to be raised by about five feet, and the Colombo Municipality was not ready to undertake this work. However A. H. M. Fowzie being appointed the Minister of highways in the PA Government got the bridge constructed at a different location. Minister Fowzie was able to get a flyover constructed on Baseline Road, another project which was planned as far back as 1962, the flyover at Ragama and took initial steps to construct the flyover at Urugodawatta over the rail track. But the flyover at Kelaniya for the Colombo-Kandy main road that has most traffic crossing the rail tracks completed in 1972 stands as a monument not in use due to the road approaches not constructed. I was the officer in-charge of the rail tracks of this area when I had to arrange for the protection for floating the pre-cast beams across the rail tracks cantilevered without cranes being used. I would like to draw the attention of the Prime Minister who is also the Minister of Highways to get the authorities concerned to look into this all important project, the completion of which will clear the blockade on the A1 high way of our road network at Kelaniya. B. B. PERERA - Katubedda |
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