Letters to the Editor

Work on the Marine Drive and Duplication Road has come to a virtual standstill. It looks like it will take another 10 years for the Marine Drive to be extended to Kollupitiya and for Duplication Road to be extended to Wellawatte.

If Duplication Road can be extended upto W.A. Silva Mawatha in Wellawatte on a priority basis it will ease the congestion on Galle Road. But now from time to time we hear of grandiose plans by the authorities of building a link road and other connecting roads for Colombo. I think the authorities must complete these existing projects instead of hoodwinking the masses with more grandiose road building plans.

Also the stretch of the Marine Drive from Ramakrishna Road to Hamers Avenue still remains in darkness without lights being installed and nobody seems to be bothered. It seems there is a dispute between the RDA and the Colombo Municipal Council over this matter. Meanwhile the public continues to suffer.

I stopped writing to the Press because no action is being taken on our complaints. During President Premadasa’s time there was a Media Unit whose job was to scrutinize the daily papers every morning and take immediate action on public complaints. Can anybody tell me whether this Unit is still in existence?

P.V.S. Ranjan
Dehiwela

Our names do lie
In slabs of granite
In the so-called ‘Remembrance Park’
Of Mailapitiya, Kandy

Yet who remembers us?
Annually come our family members
Offer flowers, shedding tears
A grand ceremony is held with honour,
Besides that, rarely a visitor,
Yet an eternal flame
Speaks of our fame,

Yet we don’t blame them
Since, our park is not a fun-fair
For them to come
In bee-line queues,

Anyway, those living should remember
That we sacrificed our lives
For them to stand on the soil
For a better tomorrow for them!
However we are fortunate
We lie in peace
Free from the hustle-bustle of life!

Malini Hettige

Asif Fuard’s report in The Sunday Times of May 7 gives the impression that the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) was acting mala fide when they arrested IP Douglas and six other police officers on drug related charges. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Surely the CCD is not so naive to arrest fellow police officers without any justification! To suggest that the CCD acted on the isolated evidence of ‘Zulfiqa’ is absurd. There must have been other evidence to go by or else the CCD would not take such a drastic step. But as we all know evidence is hard to come by. We also know that well known murderers are set free due to lack of evidence as the law requires. It seems we have a law but no justice. To say, as Asif Fuard does, that the CCD arrested the IPs to settle old scores because IP Douglas was prevented from arresting a drug kingpin simply cannot be true under the circumstances. How is it that journalists don’t look for clues that might lead them to the truth?

Instead of a simplistic approach, the media must investigate the whole sordid saga in a professional manner. That way they will see the truth. For starters journalists must hit the streets and inquire from people like us who live in the area and are privy to the terrible crimes that drug barons commit and the grieving parents they leave behind when their children fall prey to their nefarious activities. If not for the gallantry of the CCD officers the situation would have been worse. That is another street truth!

Pro Bono Publico
Colombo 12

Sunday is a day of rest and contemplation. For Christians it is also a day of worship in church. So that Sunday started off for me with a drive, soon after sun rise to the Cathedral in Colombo, in record time of 30 minutes.

My plan was to return home right after the service, but on passing the “Health Exhibition”, I decided to pay a short visit to the BMICH to see if “mental health” had been mentioned – if so to rush home and pass the news on to colleagues at the Communication Centre for Mental Health (CCMH).

Driving into the BMICH, I was handed a “car park” ticket at the entrance, and parking in a shady place was no problem. Entering the exhibition hall I asked if there were any Mental Health stalls. Their answers were “yes” and “no”, so I decided to do a quick personal survey. There were two stalls that featured a sophisticated approach to mental health, ‘Basic Needs” and “Ma Piya Sumituro”. The first was labelled “No place like home” – the approach was different to that available to the majority of people struggling to emerge from ‘fantasy to reality’. The second was a 21st century renovation of the Family Planning Association. I was fascinated to hear that our government had just passed a bill to provide fathers’ maternity leave, to accommodate female libbers.

And here comes the highlight of this letter. I walked out of the main hall totally bemused. This couldn’t be Sri Lanka I said to myself. The hall floor was so slippery, I had to take off my slippers and walk out. Outside where there had been 4 or 5 vehicles, by now there were almost 50!! which I scanned carefully. My Toyota Town Ace was not visible.

After walking anxiously around the various car parks, I went to the gate of the BMICH and explained to the gate keeper, that I couldn’t find my van. The sentry came out. “Where is your entrance slip?” he asked. “I left it on the car seat next to the driver’s seat” I said. He looked at me sternly. “There are many thefts here, which is why we give motorists the entry slip. If it was in your car, someone may have removed it with the van.”

My heart sank. My van was new and much more expensive than the building of a one room Counselling Unit in a school.

Just then a three wheeler passed by. I hailed it frantically, “Please take me around the car parks, I’ve got to find my lost van,” I said. To cut a long story short, in seven minutes we found the van, nestling comfortably under a tree!! I gave the tri-shaw driver a fresh green note, and stepped into the van with relief, saying a small prayer. “Please Lord, never let me do anything but go to church on a Sunday”. My household, including Nicky and Sheba (my four footed children), welcomed me at 12.30 p.m., with relief and happiness.