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Heavier
fine, jail term for dengue law breakers The Colombo Municipalities Chief Medical Officer Pradeep Kariyawasam said he was proposing amendments to the outdated Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinances to enable health officers to take stringent action against those who were not helping to curb the epidemic. He said the existing regulation on mosquito borne diseases stipulated a fine of only Rs. 1,000 for offenders and he was proposing that it be increased to at least Rs. 5,000 and that the jail sentence of six months for repeated offences should be strictly enforced. Dr. Kariyawasam said that despite several pleas and awareness campaigns, they were receiving little public cooperation and he felt the time had come for a crackdown. The intensity and the extensive impact of the current dengue epidemic are such that cases have been reported from Colombo, Kandy, Matara, Kalutara, Matale, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Batticaloa, Ampara, Trincomalee, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Moneragala, Ratnapura, Kegalle and Kalmunai. Some 3429 cases have been reported so far this year with 15 deaths. Schools and housing schemes have been identified as the main breeding places for the dengue mosquitoes largely because drains are clogged with sili-sili bags while puddles are left uncleared. But a resident of Weluwanapura Road at Dematagoda reported that their drain was clogged and stinking but several appeals to the CMC had no results. According to Dr. Kariyawasam, the dengue mosquito is a day biter and horrifyingly its main target could be the 200,000 children attending Colombo schools. In a well-known Colombo school where two children died of dengue, up to two feet of stagnant water - where hundreds of dengue mosquitoes might have been breeding - was discovered in an area where the earth had been dug up to install an elevator. Dr. Kariyawasam said most school authorities did not seem to take warning letters too seriously. When a seven day deadline was given, they cleaned up, but within a month the stagnant water and clogged drains were back again. The official said he was seeking powers to order such schools to be temporarily closed till they learnt their lessons and did not pose a threat to the well-being of the children. Showing another dangerous side of the epidemic, Dr. Kariyawasam said public hospitals had been advised to provide mosquito nets for patients, but the facility was not being given. Jubilee
boost for Lanka-UK ties The British High Commissioner Linda Duffield in her message outlined some of the events that have brought Sri Lanka and Britain in close contact. She said that in the recent past there had been many high level visits to Britain, including the recent visit by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe which opened opportunities to increase cooperation and understanding between the two countries. " Sri Lanka was one of the founding nations of the Commonwealth and has always played a strong and active role within the organisation," Ms. Duffield said. She welcomed the progress made on the peace process. Parliament
kitchen in a soup Parliamentary sources said the food department had been a grey area for a long time with legislators, officials, journalists and employees complaining about the inferior quality and an inquiry has now been launched.. They said there had been many instances when ministers have complained of having caterpillars, ants and stones in the food served at the members' restaurant. Petitions have already gone out to the minister of parliamentary affairs, opposition leader and to the administrative heads of Parliament. It is alleged that a senior employee of the kitchen department had bought cheap and inferior quality meats and vegetables, in addition to allegedly employing his staff from time to time on his poultry farm. Upon an initial inquiry, this officer has reportedly admitted that there has been no regular supervision of the quality of the meats and vegetable supplies. Meanwhile, it is also alleged that a senior employee in the kitchen does not regularly wear his uniform enabling him to leave Parliament premises whenever he wishes to oversee his private businesses. It is alleged he had been regularly removing containers, bags and even certain food items for this purpose. Fiat
turbine repairs: no signs of Italians The government last week said Italian engineers would be here soon to repair the Fiat gas turbine, but it is learnt that the Italian company has not set any date for their arrival, though the company has agreed to attend to the repairs. The gas turbine meets around 10% of the daily power requirement. The plant , which was installed in 1997 at Kelanitissa never functioned to its full capacity for a long period. Though the performance of the plant was covered under a warranty agreement, the CEB is alleged to have foregone the compensation due to it in a bid to get down spare parts and engineers from Italy to repair the turbine, which has broken down 27 times since it was installed. |
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