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Letters to the Editor
2nd August 1998 |
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Pot holes, pot holes and pot holesA newspaper carried in its front-page recently a picture of a man using the water on the street to cool himself. While the idea of cooling water is very soothing these warm days the stagnant water tells the sad story of our roads. How come that such a large pool of water stays on our main roads? Isn't it poor recycling that no roads put up by our Engineers ever last more than one year? Even that is doubtful. It is a common sight as one end of the road is being repaired, the other end, which was repaired only months back, develops potholes. This can be seen on the extension road of Duplication Road under construction at present. Surely someone must be held responsible for such colossal waste of taxpayers' money? Shouldn't the engineers give a guarantee period of at least five years, if not lifetime? Why do the people of the country turn a blind eye on such wastage of millions practically and literally down the drain? And suffer the inconvenience too? It is time the Ministry of Highways held someone responsible if and when potholes start appearing in recently laid roads and make them pay. This is the only way to see that we do not keep dumping our money on the road again and again. Dr. M. Thaha Reffai
Listen to this cryFor more than a decade the Sri Lankan people have paid an enormous price for not being able to solve their ethnic conflict. The ethnic problem has taken various forms, the devolution package being its latest political manifestation while war for peace is its military strategy. A considerable number of people have been killed, over thousands injured and maimed for life having lost their limbs and eyes. Many more are bereaved, left widowed and orphaned and unemployed. People have become refugees in their own country having been forced to abandon their habitats. In political parlance they are the dislocated. People have been terrorised by the violence and have left the country. The economy is paralysed. Money needed for our welfare, education, health services, infrastructural development are being wasted on the war, turning our citizens into war victims. The morale and ethos of our existence of our culture and civilisation have been devalued. Insecurity and continued violence have traumatised children, women and men. Ours is turning into a sick nation, where violence and counter violence have become our only language in dealing with what originally developed as a language issue. As concerned citizens it's time to take into account the reality of our political situation. 1. There is no military solution to our conflict. It needs to be addressed
politically. We appeal to both the government and the LTTE to start negotiations. You have to listen to the will of the people, the popular will, the call of the civil society which should become the cornerstone of any political strategy. Selvy Thiruchelvam
Wasteful exerciseI noticed a new name of a scientific institute while glancing through the newspaper. On further inquiry I discovered that names of several state owned scientific institutes have been changed. The reasons for this I do not know, but I am aware that a long period of hard work or intensive publicity is necessary to establish a name be it a commercial item or an institute. I am sure some of these institutes are known in foreign countries too. How are these organizations trying to establish the new names and how long will it take? Most probably intensive publicity campaigns will be launched both here and abroad wasting much needed public money at a time when the war torn nation is groping empty coffers for survival. Is this what these institutes should be doing at this difficult period. Obviously all the money wasted on these futile activities will be squeezed out of distressed and helpless general public in some form as GST or another. Can this country afford such wastage? Who are responsible for these blunders? Aren't there any advisers or orgaizations scientific or other, in this country to deliberate on these wasteful exercises to relevant authorities? A. F. Patrick
And beggars are not choosersThank you, Rajpal Abeynayake for yet another bold and forthright criticism.... this time of the pernicious weeds which have invaded our land under the guise of NGOs.... I totally concur with your observation that "NGOs sustain an entire industry of scholars who depend, variously for foreign trips, junkets, research stipends, academic placements, foreign jobs, publication space etc. on the NGO network." In the statement you have apparently limited your 'beneficiaries' to 'scholars'. In my experience the NGO network traps a much wider - and potentially more (nationally) dangerous - range of our people. It also entraps senior and influential government officers on the look-out for top level assignments after retirement... And the local NGOs often serve as the stepping stone towards such positions. I have occasionally been invited to speak at (potentially important and useful) meetings which have been organised (convened) by the local NGO on behalf of the 'so-called-international' body; (Foundation, Bank,..... whatever). At these meetings l've noticed that nearly all of the other local speakers are senior government officers (invariably 'economists' and 'social-scientists'). And their personal objective would seem to be to impress themselves upon the visitors of the same ilk (usually economists and social scientists again) who have successfully, themselves, got onto that 'international bank-wagon'. The local NGO (usually justifying its existence and funding as for 'research' in the fields of 'economics' and of 'social science' - once again) thus serves a two way-function,... ALSO as avenue for indoctrination of the local scene by the 'international organisation' which funds their research. I observed this insidious operation from close quarters recently at a meeting convened, on the food situation pertaining in Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries, by an organisation termed the International Food Policy Research Institute. Naturally, this organisation operates here through the medium of a prominent 'policy-research' institute in this country. A recent 'workshop' sponsored by IFPRI, was attended also by a number of foreign 'experts', most of whom were senior economists from countries around us, and who were operating within - what I observed as - a tight, 'food-policy' mafia. As far as I could see, their object and theme was to agree upon and confirm a need for Sri Lanka also to adopt a policy of total dependence upon countries outside (the USA being chief among them) for the basic necessities of life for this country. The 'facts' upon which such policies were being imposed were fundamentally incorrect, but typical of the mis-information being circulated from meeting to meeting in the region... from 'workshop' to 'workshop'.The implications were clear... No acceptance of globalisation... No AID ... Beggars are not choosers! Surely we NEED a firm national goal of NON-DEPENDENCE where the basics of life are concerned... Such as for food, for energy and in transport... Not only for strategic reasons, but for the sound reason of national pride. Around us we see how the different 'emerging nations' had the pride in themeselves to choose their own strategic areas for non-dependence. For Israel it included the area of arms in addition to the area of food. But perhaps the begging bowl is now too deeply engrained in our Sri Lankan psyche ! And beggars are not choosers! Ray Wijewardene
What about our views?The Air Traffic Controllers in Sri Lanka consider themselves honoured by your quite correctly made choice to 'borrow' an Air Traffic Control Term - "Cleared for Take-off" to be used as the catchy caption to the article in The Sunday Times of July 19, on the Development Plan by the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. (AASL) for the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and Air Traffic Control (ATC). We are thankful to you that the importance of Air Traffic Control as the hub in the field of aviation has duly been recognized and reflected by your doing so. We wish to appreciate and acknowledge the interest shown therein by the AASL management, the Chairman Capt. S. Manamperi in particular, to improve he BIA and ATC. However, while opting to reserve its comments on certain portions of the said new plans of AASL for new equipment and training directly involving our profession ATC, this Association SLATCA with 100% of ATCs in Sri Lanka on its membership, wishes to express its confidence that the present Management of AASL would appreciate and pay due attention to contributions by SLATCA representing the vital views of ATCs - the ultimate enduser, before final decisions are taken in order to ensure optimum effectiveness of such new equipment and/ or training, unlike one previous management whose individualistic decisions compelled the country to inherit a liability in a so far unsuccessful Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) at Pidurutalagala. Air Traffic Controllers' |
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