Elections, Lankan style
I have been a spectator at the local government elections recently as my
husband, a veteran politician, is involved and has been a strength to the
people of Balangoda.
From the day that candidates were asked to submit nominations, it was
hilarious to witness the following events. Lists were made and altered
many a time (sometimes in an underhand manner), as there were all types
of people who wanted the opportunity to be in the fray. If this enthusiasm
is to serve the people who live on promises for a better life - well and
good.
However, I found that most of the nominees do not present their qualifications
or even a manifesto of what they have done in their term of office or what
they propose to do if elected. Their time is taken up by trying, somehow
and by any means, to include their names on the nomination lists and maybe
deprive another deserving candidate the chance of being a better public
figure.
All these manipulations are done in earnest and after that, the campaign
begins. Because of the preferential system and the large number of parties
involved, I could see lots of enmity between candidates, not only among
those in opposition but also those in the same party. Friends and families
become foes. Candidates stoop to anything to somehow get to the top of
their list by collecting all the preferential votes.
In fact, it is a relief that the elections are over - I write this in
the hope that the winners and the losers will shake hands, as should be
the custom. However, I dread to think of the outcome. It seems that the
opponents wait for the chance to repeat the same methods of non-cooperation.
They do not think and act for the people but for themselves.
The people get back to their normal lives after the pleasure of being
hosted to free rides, drinks and food and the celebrations after the election
results begin with crackers, garlands and receptions that never end. One
wonders when those elected hope to get to work on all the promises they
have made.
Sri Lanka is a small and beautiful country - our motherland. When I
look around and see the number of aspiring grassroots "manthrithumas" as
they want themselves to be called, I sincerely hope they won't let the
people down and start the same old story of once having won their seats,
being lethargic and waiting for the next general election to gear themselves
for work. In the same vein, I hope the opposition will forget about the
political fights and cooperate for the good of the country.
Salma Aboosally
Balangoda
Save us from the claws of the Tigers
The Tigers are building a monument in memory of Annai Poopathy, with contributions
taken by force from the general public. Businessmen are compelled to give
money and labourers have to work a day free of charge. Anybody who protests
is punished severely.
Poopathy was a retired attendant who was hired for this cause. What
a medical miracle that she fasted for 30 days before dying! Since society
and the IPKF were critical of the fast, the Tigers killed her to save their
reputation.
Why is the Sri Lankan government permitting the creation of such a monument?
The worst is that schoolchildren are dragged for every LTTE activity,
against the will of the parents. Why has the Sri Lankan government given
them such freedom?
We are at a loss to understand why the government has betrayed the Batticaloa
Tamils and left us at the mercy of the Tigers.
The Tigers claim that those living in this part of the country should
pay taxes to them. If they do not wish to pay taxes they have to leave
their belongings behind and get out of Eelam. Can the government give asylum
to the Tamils who do not want to accept or be ruled by the Tigers.
SG
Kallady
Saying one thing, doing another
I read with interest 'Where law fears to dread' (The Sunday Times, March
17) by Ronald Fernando about Minister S.B. Dissanayake's sons.
Last week on Rupavahini, Interior Minister John Amaratunga was asked
whether there are two sets of laws in our country, one for ministers and
their sons, and the other for the general public. He was specifically asked
about the criminal acts by SB's sons on December 31 night at the Galle
Face Hotel. The Minister evaded the question, and answered that they have
now been reformed. A responsible minister giving a vague answer. He had
been talking of justice, fairplay, honesty, but in action it was a different
tune.
As pointed out by Mr. Fernando, what would have been the position, if
they were ordinary citizens? They would have been charged with the possession
of firearms, using illegal firearms, disturbing the peace, attempted murder,
damaging private property and causing hurt.
If the Minister acts partially, justice cannot be expected by the public.
I hope the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the Attorney General
will give serious thought to this question, and take appropriate action.
Then and only then can justice be meted out fairly.
Emil de Silva
Rajagiriya
To be fit and well
A toast is for the well-being of those who drink it. To be fit and well,
you should have full use of the five senses - smell, taste, sight, touch
and hearing.
You see the drink, you touch it, smell it and taste it but you do not
hear it. Hence, the clinking of glasses to indicate that you wish the other
person good hearing too.
If you want to make the toast sincere you throw your empty glass and
it shatters. This is done to make sure that no other person's health will
be drunk from it.
But if a hotel or bar manager catches you doing that, he would have
a fit!
S. Sivagurunathan
Kurunegala
Make their last days on earth comfortable
I remember taking my dogs and cats to the municipal veterinary surgeon
at the dog pound way back in the late sixties/early seventies. I am sorry
to say that 30 years later the office area is the same but the facilities
for the poor dogs are worse. The municipality has done absolutely nothing
to improve the buildings or facilities for the dogs. The buildings are
dilapidated and an eye-sore.
Gas them and kill them if you must but can't you make their last few
days on this earth a little comfortable by, at least, ensuring they have
some water and not their own urine to quench their thirst.
I believe they are just fed with morsels of raw meat for which there
is a major fight and scramble. Can't some arrangement be made to feed these
strays with leftovers from the numerous food outlets in the city?
I have advocated sterilisation and not elimination of dogs as the answer
to the number of stray animals on our roads today. We have to educate our
people, especially those who find it more convenient to dump puppies/kittens
at temples, fish markets etc.
The Animal Welfare and Protection Association conducts a free sterilization/neutering
clinic monthly at their transit home for animals at 107A, Kadawatha Road,
Dehiwela.
Each clinic costs the association a tidy sum and they meet it with the
donations and fund-raising projects. I think it is time the municipal and
government veterinary dispensaries also sterilized animals, free or at
nominal cost, to help the public.
We should also teach our children to be kind to animals. It is heartening
that they have introduced a new subject in our schools on 'how to be good
human beings'. This is more important than having all the qualifications
in the world.
Iromi Salgadu
Colombo 2
Smiles that beguile...
"Lanka, land of smiling people," some say
Or so it seems - on Election Day.
One finds here and there pockets of 'hangers-on'
Their faces wreathed in smiles, where just yesterday, were frowns.
Maybe they're learning the value of a smile
How it disarms one, how it can beguile.
On election day, one feels so like a queen.
What with all this bowing and scraping by the 'blues' and the 'greens'.
Election campaigning stopped at midnight - Sunday
But oh! There are other ways to get at one's prey.
While on our way to the polling booth.
Two youth passed by us and we heard them say
"Anke Visidhekete, denna - manape."
While on this we did ponder, there came a murmur near my ear.
"Number One, Number One......" - subtle psychology, I fear.
Then about our feet lay scattered bits of board
With a number and a symbol - just littering the road.
As we then entered the compound, what a sight there was to see!
Not a soul was to be found in the whole vicinity!
Some said that they were fed up and just would not vote.
Others said that they'll be darned if they were impersonated by some
goat.
Another said that it was a case of "tic, tac, tuk"
As ''they're all just the same - a bunch of blithering crooks!"
...now get down to work
Well, the voting's been done - the end of the elections
And once you victors have done with your celebrations.
May we hope to find our streets all clean?
And please don't paint those 'blue' offices back to 'green'
Be done with such pettiness, it's our money you waste!
And don't forget to take those posters off! - (the ones you did paste!)
Then, about the garbage and that truck that reeks.
If not, once in three days, could you send it once a week?
Then about our pavements - could we have some of these?
As we find it hard to walk on the roads, so could you make some, please?
Then, the problem of our drains - dear me! How they do stink!
When you've done the drains near your house, could you see to ours,
d'you think?
And our street names, could you please paint them once again?
And help us plant some trees down our roads and lanes?
And to those still bent on murder, here's my one last plea,
If murder thou must, please murder not thou me!
Janine
Nugegoda
Covering fraud with hikes
Now it is official. "Electricity tariffs will be revised but concessionary
rates will apply to consumers of less than 30KWh per mensem," it was announced
in the Budget speech.
The UNP administration, not by theory but practical terms, have shown
that Aggrekko has to be paid only Rs. 7.50 as against Rs. 12.50 paid by
the SLFP administration.
This was known to the UNP during and before the election campaign.
What the UNP has to do first is to find out where that extra Rs. 5 paid
to Aggrekko went. Is it to one pocket or to several?
The public believe the government should bring legislation to investigate
the malpractices, fraud and misappropriation during the post-1994 period
and confiscate the amassed wealth of whoever is found guilty of corruption.
Until and unless the UNP government carries out such an exercise, it
has no moral right to raise the electricity tariff.
Metthananda Wijekulasuriya
Polgasowita
Poking fun at the handicapped
Lately there have been a few commercials on TV which can be deemed unethical.
One depicts several actors imitating a speech defect - stammering. No civilised
country would entertain any advertisement which pokes fun at the handicapped.
Another ad on TV and in the print media focuses on a dreaded disease,
cancer, almost to the point of terrorising viewers and readers. It asks
the question who the next victim is.
Another TV commercial implies that a child would come to a mother only
to drink a glass of milk. What of the boundless love between a child and
mother?
These advertisements create unwholesome attitudes among the public,
specially among the impressionable.
A.G. Abeysinghe
Gampaha
Wild accusations that ignore facts
With regard to Charles Santiapillai's views in 'Bane or bonanza' (The Sunday
Times, March 24) on the ADB funded Protected Area Management & Wildlife
Conservation Project, he has either not read the project document or is
prone to publishing falsehoods. Some of these are:
1. 'This is a massive US$ 34 million loan'. This statement is false.
The loan component is only US$ 12 million together with grants from the
Global Environment Fund and the Netherlands government.
2. He says that 51% of the loan will be kept back to fund the consultants
and for the purchase of equipment. This statement is also inaccurate. No
money will be brought into the country.
3. Prof. Santiapillai says that already there are moves to exploit medicinal
plants from Strict Nature Reserves (SNRs). This is untrue. There is no
mention at all in the project document that there will be extraction of
medical plants form anywhere.
4. He says that the management of the protected areas will be transferred
to the private sector. No such action is intended or similar action stated
in the proposal document. In fact one of the components of the project
is to strengthen the capability and capacity of the Department of Wildlife
Conservation to manage the protected areas.
5. He mentions that the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance is to be
replaced by a Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan. Surely, even an undergraduate
would realize that you cannot replace an Act of Parliament with a new action
plan.
6. He says that the people and governments of the third world should
manage protected areas. Where does the money for all this come from?
In the last few months there seems to be a conspiracy by a small group
to vilify the project, ignoring the facts stated in the project document,
or by quoting parts of statements out of context. The newspapers have been
their medium of making public these views and Prof. Santiapillai also seems
to be part of this.
Nigel Billimoria
Mount Lavinia
When justice is done there will be peace
Thanks to H.A.J. Hulugalle's book, 'The Life and Times of D.R. Wijewardene',
I was able to read, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam's address as President
of the Ceylon Reform League in 1917.
Mr. Arunachalam, as far back as the second decade of the 20th century
had this to say in his plea for more self- government. "The real makers
of the country's wealth - the peasant and the labourer - are steeped in
poverty...
"..... to bring home to the educated and wealthy classes of the community
their obligations to serve those who are less favourably circumstanced
than themselves".
Long before, Philip Gunawardena and his Marxism, Mr. Arunachalam and
his Ceylon Reform League, in the context of working towards self-government
were concerned about the peasants and the labourers.
I wonder whether independent Sri Lanka, has been concerned about the
peasants and the workers? Now that there is some hope about solving the
problems of the minorities, we should also not forget the problems in the
deep south, the plantations, the hills and of the urban poor. Peace involves
justice and modern Sri Lanka cannot dream of peace unless and until justice
is done to all people. I wonder whether Mr. Arunachalam's dreams have been
realised, despite freedom from foreign rule and the gain of self-government.
Fr. Sydney Knight
Colombo 7 |
