23rd May 1999

• On the roads till they fall apart
• Don't forget Sandesaya gave 'life' to Lester
• Cheers to this crack -down
• Don't give them all on a platter
• A 'garden' of pot holes, nothing more!

On the roads till they fall apart

We read very often about accidents involving massive ramshackle buses along our highways. In most cases these buses should be sent to a salvage dump, but are kept on the roads by irresponsible owners. They endanger the lives of people and cause great damage to other vehicles and property.

These buses which are almost falling apart, have no brakes or signal lights. Even when the buses stop for passengers, often not at a bus stand, they occupy more than half the roadway and cause traffic jams. The main culprits appear to be the buses that are maintained by the Regional Transport Boards or Peoplized Services, where the philosophy seems to be - run the buses as much as possible until they literally fall apart. We often read in the newspapers of the Transport Minister proudly launching a fleet of new buses. Is it not his obligation to ensure that the derelict and ramshackle buses are ordered off the roads as they are a potential danger to life and property ? or is he not concerned ?

Dr. P. R. Sirisena
Ratnapura

Don't forget Sandesaya gave 'life' to Lester

Having been the Chief Assistant Director (to Dr. Lester James Peries) on the film Sandesaya, I would like to comment on some moves to downgrade this film, or ignore it totally during his 80th birthday.

It may or may not have been one of the weak films, but it is the film that gave a kind of 'cardiac massage' to Dr. Lester James Peries to come back to the mainstream of the Sinhala cinema after facing 'a period of drought' since the financial failure of 'Rekava'.

Being critical of Sandesaya in this manner tantamounts to kicking the ladder of success which Lester climbed. Or am I not correct in quoting the Sinhala saying 'passe aapu ang issella aapu kang walate vediya lokui',-the horns that grew later seem to be more important then the ears that were already there.

If not for Sandesaya many would not have been there at all- I am referring to those latter day technicians and script writers who were all post Sandesaya. Sandesaya was a kind of Trojan Horse and it did exactly did what the Trojan Horse did. After its box office success a more refined version was presented at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s.

Sandesaya created an enlivened Lester James Peries, and from it emerged a more robust Gamini Fonseka and Sumitra Peries (then Gunawardana) to foster the Lester James Peries, Sumitra Peries combination - now household names in creative film making.

Wijaya Abhayadeva
Polgasovita

Cheers to this crack -down

DIG Camillus Abeygunawardene deserves the high commendation of the travelling public for resuming traffic checks, especially on buses, after a lapse of nearly 10 years.

As mentioned recently in your weekend newspaper article, in 1990 when policemen in mufti began to charge errant bus drivers for various traffic violations, they staged a strike.

This strike was instigated by certain powerful politicians, whose relations owned some of the buses. Even the media was scared to publish any protest, fearing their lives.

However, it is heartening to learn that, this time around, the Traffic Chief has vowed not to cow down to such intimidation. We applaud him for his forthrightness.

The public understands that the Police, burdened with their security duties, are severely handicapped with shortage of personnel to check traffic offences that occur everywhere, even within the city. But this should not always be held out as an excuse to ignore severe law-breakers - 'traffic terrorists' as they should be rightly labelled.

Would it not be possible for the Police to employ more people both male and female exclusively for traffic control? Sometimes we see officers in light blue uniforms controlling traffic. I wonder whether this is the type of person I'm talking about. Wouldn't it be worth considering?

Another breed of traffic offenders -the three wheeler drivers have 'become a law unto themselves', the Traffic Chief says. We look forward to seeing the Traffic Police begin their crackdown on these notorious offenders who have become a real danger to everybody.

D.J. Rodrigo
Kalubowila

Don't give them all on a platter

The Chairman of the State Printing Corporation in a Rupavahini interview, revealed that the employees attached to the SPC are frustrated because printing of school text books has been assigned to the private firms by the authorities.

It is obvious that they are faced with the threat of losing employment due to these steps that have been taken for reasons best known to the authorities. The chairman says the SPC has performed this duty to the satisfaction of all concerned and wishes to know why such a step has been taken.

Almost every one is well aware that the SPC as a state organization, has earned its name and fame in the field of publishing school books and various othor documents in the country. It is said that this organization was established according to an Act of Parliament for the sole purpose of printing school books. But the assignment of this task to the private sector without any obvious reason amounts to the violation of the constitution as well, according to the chairman.

I do not think anyone in his right sense can approve the moves to hand over almost every national asset on a platter to the private sector because of so-called 'efficient management' and profitability.

Although the authorities may have their own versions I hope a few patriotic citizens will strive to preserve some of the state organisations.

R. Somasiri
Pannipitiya

A 'garden' of pot holes, nothing more!

Any person hearing the words Robert Garden may envisage a cool lane surrounded by neat houses.

But sadly this is not the reality, if one were to visit Robert Garden off Roberts Road in Quarry Road at Dehiwela.

The road leading from the Roberts Road was an eye sore- with large pot-holes which make driving a nightmare even on clear days and on wet days a nerve racking experience.

I made inquiries from the residents of the so called Garden as to why no improvements had been made to the road or if any complaints had been made to 'higher-ups' which usually is the only way to get things done in this democracy of ours. And what did I hear? One of the residents on the lane was none other than a leading politician of the Southern Provincial Council from the ruling PA.

This was a big surprise to me, but not to the residents of the lane who pointed out that this politician who travels around in a government provided Pajero probably doesn't even feel the bumpy surface of the road.

This begs the 65,000 rupee question. Will the politicians ever improve any lane or road unless they are directly affected by it?

I kindly urge the City fathers of Dehiwela Mount Lavinia Municipal Council to visit the said area and see for themselves the conditions suffered by the taxpayers who incidentally are finally footing the bill for the Pajero which this politician drives over the pot-holed Robert Garden.

D.W.G.
Kandy

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