Having retired from Government Service in 1979, I am a pensioneer for the last 17 years. As such, I have more or less made it a habit to read the many letters published in the print media, especially in the English papers, written by the pensioneers explaining their pathetic conditions almost daily, but never before did I have an opportunity of reading a letter similar to the one written by Dr. P.H.D. Silva retired Director of National Museum headline 'Pension Sop' published in a Sunday newspaper given the wide publicity it richly deserves in other papers.
The learned Doctor has in a nutshell put it very authoritatively and graphically the hypocritical and shabby treatment meted out to pensioneers by the present Government.
I admire his sincerity and frankness when he admits that after having voted for the UNP during the past 17 years he did vote for the PA during the last two elections in 1994 with great expectations but that today he is repenting for his mistakes as a disappointed and disgusted pensioneer.
I am sure at lest 90% of the pensioneers made the same mistake but are either too shy to admit that or may be waiting for some crumbs to fall from the tables of power to come their way, a thing I doubt very much.
The only point where I differ from the Doctor is that I did not make that mistake in the past nor will I ever make it in the future.
What I am most surprised at is that there still seem to be lot of pensioners, specially the members of the so-called associations which are coming up like mushrooms overnight, singing hosanas in praise of this Government I do not know for what.
Incidentally I happened to read another letter written on the same subject by one Jinadasa Wickramasuriya of Gampola and published in the Letters to the Editor column of The Sunday Times of 15.12.96 where the writer has suggested a political party of pensioners. Well I think as it is we have enough parties already.
If my suggestion is of any value I would like to suggest that instead of forming a political party it is time we form one single Association for all the pensioners discarding all differences such as religion and language.
I believe this idea was mooted by retired Auditor General Mr. Epa and it was published in the papers sometime back.
In my opinion, he is quite fit to hold the reins of such an Association and guide the destinies of pensioners with Dr. P.H.D. Silva to assist him.
If Ministers Thondaman and Ashraff with a vote bank of 3 or 4 lakhs can get what they want for their followers, why not pensioners with a voting strength of about 4 lakhs of their own and same or more votes from their dependents.
I leave it to the pensioners to decide and act without further delay because delay means disaster. Over to you my fellow pensioners.
The poor pensioners waited with open mouths for the manna to fall into them in January from the powers that be, after a great deal of procrastination time after time. But alas, we have been duped again.
One newspaper was quick to flash the reason for the delay: It said that the delay was due to the fact that the date of payment has been advanced to 7.2.97 perhaps in view of the Ramazan Festival, but the irony of the situation is that the vouchers have not been received by many even as late as 9.2.97 which meant a Black Ramazan for our Muslim brothers! They have been denied even the pittance normally paid to them to enjoy the Ramazan Festival.
It is with achievements of this kind the PA candidates are facing the polls! I pity them
Over the last twenty years the biggest damage done to Maththegoda Estate was the destruction of the valuable coconut trees. It was originally a 999 acre estate with 597 Jak trees around the boundary. Today there may be only 97 left behind. On this estate we have to pay Rs. 15 to purchase a coconut. If the authorities responsible had preserved Maththegoda Estate and Olaboduwa Estate we could have fed the entire Colombo district with coconut at a nominal price.
In and around Polgasowita a large number of industries, housing schemes, shipping complexes and all types of businesses are created. When the population is increasing fast all types of developments have to come up. Some of the people living comfortably in housing schemes think they have got fine living accommodations. All the other business activities in and around this locality should stop for their comfort.
At Polgasowita many buildings have come up of which the biggest is a "central warehouse" - a very big store for storing industrial products.
When the foundation was laid, people were excited as they thought that an industry was coming up. Some of them were trying hard to stop the construction of this building. In addition to this there are two small industries belonging to the same company. At the very inception people thought all these industries would create problems to this locality.
As far as I know all these business ventures are a great asset to our village. I do not hear any noise coming from the factories nor do I see any dangerous fumes or chemicals spewing from the factories and creating problems for this locality. These buildings and the garden are maintained with beautiful lawns and flower beds. Very attractive plants are grown exclusively to resemble a beautiful green house. It's an added beauty to the village. I pass these business ventures every day. So far I have not seen a single employee of this organisation outside the building. All I see are a few security men at the entrance. And I know that a large number of employed youth have found very attractive employment in this organisation. In and around the place youth have opened up small canteens and shops. They all have a regular volume of business from these factories. The entire village has got a new look.
I thought of writing this after reading an article in a newspaper. This particular article is only one side of the coin. We must compare both sides and see what would happen if we close down all industries and tourist hotels for the protection of the environment. We have already forgotten what was happening in this country in the recent past, when we had a very large number of unemployed educated youth all over without proper employment.
Taking into consideration the above facts it is far better to develop business organisations, industries and tourist hotels on a very large scale and create employment opportunities for the younger generation as much as possible.
It is far better to have natural death from fumes and pollution coming out of industries rather than getting killed by the younger generation.
Mr. Warsakoon, the President of the Association of SLAS, in his letter which appeared in Sunday Times of February 16 1997 says that SLAS officers are professional managers. Most SLAS officers no doubt are administrators but can Mr. Warsakoon explain to the readers of 'Sunday Times' what professional qualifications the SLAS officers have got in management for them to be identified as Professional Managers.
A senior SLAS officer in a ministry, sometimes with his honourable minister takes an important policy decision, and in a few months time he/she will be doing a similar function in a completely different ministry.
It is true that SLAS officers are managers but most of them have neither the background knowledge nor the experience in taking decisions on important matters related to very critical areas such as education, health, agriculture, irrigation, power etc.
However,. this is what has happened during the last few decades and perhaps may be one of the contributory factors for the degradation in many spheres in Sri Lanka.
For the first time I decided that I should follow the practice of the Prophet Mohammed and offer my Eid prayers to God Almighty at an open place. The only choice I had was at Galle Face where Eid prayers are conducted for many a year by the Memon community which is to their credit.
After waiting for some time in the hot sun, which I didn't mind at all, the ceremony began with the usual tributes to those who made this event possible. All this was in order. But I was horrified when the master of ceremonies mentioned that the occasion was graced by politicos. There was no need to do this since all are equal in the eyes of God Almighty. And after all they had come there to perform their duties and not to please or honour the Muslims. The Quran says that honour lies only with God Almighty.
As if to add insult to injury I was horrified when the master of ceremonies invited the Minister to say a few words. Which he did with all pleasure. Though he didn't touch on politics the fact that he is a politician was enough to give a political hue to the sacred occasion. This is sacrilegious. Specially with the local government elections round the corner.
So, Mr. Minister please don't use spiritual occasions to promote yourself. This is not Islamic at all.
I was surprised to note that two events recently held at the "R. Premadasa Stadium" one by the Government and the other by the SLFP, its 25th Anniversary had ignored the name and described the venue as the Khettarama Stadium.
A few months ago the Government held a Farmers' Rally at the Premadasa Stadium and all banners and handbills said it would be held at the Khettarama Stadium.
Then again the 25th Anniversary Sessions held at the same venue too described the venue as the Khettarama Stadium.
Upto now whatever Government party was in power have held important meetings in various venues giving the real name of the place. For example, when events are held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall it has been named so. Even when events are held at the Sugathadasa Stadium or the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium it was the done thing to correctly described the place. These two stadia are also creations of President Premadasa.
When cricket matches are played at the R. Premadasa Stadium the Stadium is described as the R. Premadasa Stadium. Perhaps for political reasons the SLFP may have found it abhorrent to mention "The 25th Anniversary Sessions for the SLFP at the R. Premadasa Stadium." But then if that is so, they could have found another place where the Premadasa name was not there.
The irony of it is that many who criticised when the Stadium was put up are themselves now deriving some benefit. It may perhaps be the case of many who had benefited through various schemes initiated by him.
It was well-known that President Premadasa had strictly refrained from giving his name to any of the multitude of projects and schemes that he brought into fruition.
The exception was the R. Premadasa Pavilion at St. Joseph's College, Colombo which he agreed to at the insistence of the school authorities in view of the fact it was donated by him to his old school.
He could have easily put his name to the Khettarama Stadium or the massive Maligawatte Housing Scheme or any of the Housing Complexes and Model villages constructed throughout the country.
He did not want that to happen while he was living. It was as a tribute to the late President that the Khettarama Stadium was named as R. Premadasa Stadium after his death. It was known as the R. Premadasa Stadium since then.
Even the newspapers, except for a few, reported that the events were held at the Khettarama Stadium. I hope that the R. Premadasa Stadium would be known by its true name in the future.
One thing is certain when we see the visuals on the TV and the newspaper pictures of the two recent events. They were, if we may use a common student saying, a "copy cat" of what late Mr. Premadasa had done when he held similar mass gatherings at the same venue - a teachers' and a farmers' gathering to inaugurate the Farmers Pension Scheme.
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