Letters To The Editor
View(s):There’s a ray of hope amidst the disaster
Once again we Sri Lankans have rallied around sans thought of religion, caste or creed to help those who were badly hit by the floods and landslides due to the extreme weather conditions we faced last week.
This was made possible mainly due to the instant action taken by the media in giving the public news of the sad situation.
The response by the people was amazing and they came forward at short notice to help. This gives one hope that there is still a lot of good among us though most often what we see and hear nowadays is negative.
Hats off to the Sri Lankan Army, Navy, Air Force and Police for going all out to help in the evacuation and relief efforts.
Pearly Dunuwila
Colombo
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Take democratic decision to rescind order for prefab houses
Open letter to Resettlement & Rehabilitation Minister
This is a plea to rethink and rescind the decision to build 6,000 prefabricated houses in the war torn areas.
The recent report by a professional body with no political or economic vested interest, and with only the welfare of the country at heart, has given their reasoned arguments in favour of brick and mortar houses.
At a recent seminar, citizens claimed they were given a form for prefab houses with no options on a “take it or leave it” basis.
The “Divinaguma Bill” clearly states that all development work in the provinces should have the consent and the support of the people’s representatives. They are in favour of brick and mortar houses. It is not democratic to go against the will of the people.
In a debt-ridden country, it does not make sense to add to our burden when the whole scheme could be executed with local finance and labour, at half the cost, especially as it would provide work, and improve the skills and economic livelihood of the people. This is not good governance.
Your forebears left a lasting legacy to the people of the North, in persuading the government of the day to build the lranamadu tank. I trust you will leave a lasting legacy to the people of the North and East by prevailing upon the government to build brick and mortar houses which they could pass on to generations to come.
Should you fail, 30 years later, these prefab houses will present an environmental problem when they crumble, and non-bio degradable dumps are created. The need for housing will re-emerge, with no prospect of aid – local or international.
However, should you have the courage to rescind the order for prefab houses, it will not be seen as a loss of face, but rather as a truly democratic move of good governance, as promised by the “Yahapalanaya government” in 2015.
Sarojini Kadirgamar
Colombo
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Doctors are not the only ones who benefited from free education
Every article or letter critical of the GMOA’s recent strike action emphasises the fact that they are beneficiaries of free education, and are subsidised by the tax-payers money, implying that the tax-payer is the puppeteer, and the Doctors mere puppets controlled by the latter.
I do not condone their frequent resort to strike action in order to solve what they consider serious issues, however an emergency service is always maintained, and “vulnerable” units, such as maternity, childrens, and cancer units are not affected. Although the public is critical of the Doctors for the wealth they accumulate through private practice, it is the very same public that creates the demand for it. There is nothing preventing anyone from seeking treatment from a government hospital; every emergency is attended to immediately, and everybody has access to all the clinics, albeit, at considerable inconvenience, entailing long hours of “queuing up”.
For a brief period, in the 70’s private practice for government Doctors was prohibited. It was public demand that brought it back.
Doctors were by no means the only beneficiaries of “free education”, they represent only a very small segment of professionals who benefited by it.
It is sad that although the services of the medical profession are indispensible to the public, an undercurrent of resentment always exists. This is due to the fact that the patient often has the misconception of being a hapless victim, exploited by the doctor.
Amazingly, lawyers and even teachers whose incomes may exceed that of doctors, do not generate the same degree of resentment that doctors do, due to there being no absolute dependency between the public and these professions.
Dr. Premini Amerasinghe
Kandy
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Police, authorities in the dark over state of Centre Road, Mattakuliya
Although almost two years have passed since Centre Road, Mattakuliya was widened, the streetlights have not been switched on for reasons unknown.
The widened road is in pitch darkness at night posing a risk to motorists and pedestrians alike. A number of thefts have been reported and a leading supermarket on this stretch of road was burgled recently but the culprits are still at large.
There is no Police patrol either.
To add insult to injury, a mobile fish vendor adds to the congestion with vehicles being parked to buy fish, impeding the free flow of traffic. The drains are polluted with dirty water.
The road is also used as a racing track: It is a common sight at night to see motorists racing against each other.
Are the authorities waiting for a major incident to occur to awake from their slumber? Vehicles are even parked on the yellow line but nobody cares. The jackpot question is what are the Police top brass doing?
Leo Jayasuriya
Mattakuliya