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not resignations and theories Who is to blame for this ludicrous situation? It is not only the PA government whose total inaction led the country into this dilemma, but also the UNP government before that.The latter for its failure to implement the Mawella coal-fired project in 1991. The site was shifted to Norachcholai in the Puttalam district, which has given rise to the present controversy on the suitability of the place. And now we are told that the Norachcholai project is to be shelved by the government, having spent over 400 million rupees, all public money. The reason for this sudden reversal is yet to be known by the public. The current government has not only failed to offer a justifiable reason for suspending the Norachcholai coal project, but also allowed the people to believe that a Catholic bishop is holding the country to ransom on the flimsy pretext of 'security' and 'environmental pollution'. Obviously the citizens of this country have a right to know as to why this particular site has suddenly become unsuitable when the CEB claims otherwise. The UNF government on assuming power, appointed a National Energy Council, which is seen to be more theorizing than being practical, while imposing self-made deadlines to end the power crisis. But what have we today? A soft-spoken minister who has promised to resign from his cabinet portfolio if the crisis continues after June and a senior management of the country's power generating body which prefers to watch helplessly and pray to the rain gods! What the country needs is not the minister's resignation or a theorizing group of energy experts, but an aggressive and practical long-term approach to solving the power crisis once and for all. Those who are responsible for the current catastrophe should also be made accountable for their misdeeds. It is difficult to understand why the government which advocated transparency in all transactions on pre-election platforms, should soft-peddle the issue of accountability and fight shy of bringing to justice those individuals who mismanaged this sector. It has indeed been the bane of this country to allow public officers who perpetrate calamities of unimaginable magnitude to go scot-free while the public grins and bears the consequences of such unpardonable acts. The CEB has repeatedly warned that a similar power crisis will occur in 2004. What measures has the government taken to effectively counter this threat since coal-fired projects are long-term undertakings? Can the government assure the public that power cuts will not be imposed again? Meanwhile, electricity
tariffs have been revised, making the public pay for the sins of
the CEB, while the CEB is losing 300 million rupees a month with
regard to the installation of electricity meters. Is this fair?
It is time that the government took a tougher stand and brought
to book all those public officers who were responsible for the current
disaster by their inaction and wrong decisions.
The people at the helm of advertising firms may disagree, stating that what they do now is based on 'extensive market research'. I leave it to the readers to pass judgment on what I state below. After all, market research is done to get the views of the general public, and they are the people who read newspapers. Nobody likes to see people shouting in any place, be it the office, home, bus etc. Some advertisers use this method to pass on their message. In one advertisement on electric bulbs, the burly manager is seen shouting at his assistants. In another on cement, a big made labourer yells, that unlike the bags of other companies, this company's bags are uniform in weight and, therefore, too heavy for him. Where praise is due, there is blame, but that is not my point. Why compel the TV viewers to watch such outbursts? In a radio advertisement, a person shouts that he is a germ capable of causing many diseases. Then another shouts even louder, that he is capable of destroying him. There are many other TV and radio advertisements like these. This is a humble request not to have such awful advertisements. The TV films and newsreels have enough and more of shoving, shooting and shouting. Let the advertisers give something that is soothing to the weary eyes of the viewers. There are some pleasing advertisements of high quality.There is one on a brand of biscuits. The scene dates back to many centuries. Dozens of people are seen walking in a desert single file wearing a special type of headgear, with matching background music. But this advertisement has been shown hundreds of times, and now, whenever I see it coming, I quickly change the channel. Children relish ice cream, but ask any child whether he likes it morning, noon and night every day? Many advertisers seem to believe it is so. When the consumers are irritated over the way a product is advertised, it has a negative effect. When that happens, the advertiser pays to lose business. What a pity? I can also give examples of objectionable advertisements. In one, a school principal refers to his set of pupils as having been badly brought up (nohedichcha lamayi). Why? Because they throw away the biscuit after eating only the cream. I am not a psychiatrist, but I feel it would be harmful to young minds when insults are hurled at them even in unreal situations. I am surprised that parents allowed their children to appear in this advertisement. Another objectionable advertisement is one where, for a half a second or so, a man is seen stroking the bare bottom of a woman. No. The advertisement is not about a balm or lotion, but tea! There are many more examples of unsuitable advertisements on TV and radio. In the case of newspaper advertisements, if we do not like them we don't read them and pass on. Obviously, that cannot be done with radio and TV advertisements as very few people possess remote control switches. Others have to grin and bear. I trust those
in the advertising industry would not get offended with constructive
criticism, and come out with some adjustments on the matters raised. Rude
road mosters and pushing shoving people Forget about driving in the streets of Colombo. The best example I have to offer is trying to turn into Tickell Road in Borella and being confronted by three huge Ashok Leyland buses driving parallel to each other from the opposite side. Obviously a traffic jam was on and queuing was out of the question. But even at the Yala National Park, no one gives way to elephants anymore. I personally witnessed a herd of elephants being cut off from water for over three hours by jeep drivers whose only concern was to show their passengers' elephants and try to earn a bigger tip. I bought a new car with my earnings and in the few months I have owned it I have had every badge that could possibly be removed, stolen from it. Scrapes and scratches caused by motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic etc, do not bear mention. I attempted
to handle the registration and licensing by myself and after a few
attempts at taking on the RMV I simply had to hire one of the touts.
These touts who have made it impossible for a normal citizen to
get anything done in that establishment. Millions are spent on advertising by the more prosperous companies who do not seem to give any heed to this crying need of society. Cannot we have an advertising campaign that explains to the man on the street that it is OK to stand in a queue? That pushing and shoving your way to the front or standing so close to person in front of you so that that person is either able to determine the size of your genitals or is aware of what you had for the previous meal is not acceptable? Let me tell you the most disconcerting part of all. My work took me to Jaffna recently. I was very impressed at the way in which the Jaffna people have survived. The level of discipline was fantastic! The buses were spotlessly clean and did not belch smoke and pollute the air. Even the trishaw drivers drove with discipline and did not weave all over the place. I can understand how they survived so well and I shudder at the thought of what the hordes from Colombo are going to do to that pristine land when they have free access. If we do not
address this situation, it will be impossible for people to live
in this country however akin to paradise it is. Give
a number for the property This is confusing, because I have to summon, as plaintiff in a partition case, an officer from the local body to say that I had paid taxes for the land involved in the case. But that officer is in a position to give only the number and thereby his evidence becomes useless. The poor litigant after paying tax is unable to prove it to courts. This is a very serious lapse on the part of the local body. The lawyer for the other side can argue that I have produced a receipt for another property. I raised this question with the Local Government Commissioner of the Southern Province on March 1, 2002 by registered letter but he has still not replied. Therefore, I
request the minister in-charge to go into this question and make
the necessary amendments to provide the tax number and the name
of the land on the receipt issued.
The system of casting three votes for a single candidate and having to obtain the highest number of votes to qualify for the selection for the post of chairman are the main factors behind this unfortunate situation. From nomination day itself, battles erupts between rival parties and also among the candidates of the same party. In this race, violence and election malpractices are inevitable. Candidates spend lavishly. Some wonder how much they will get as an allowance once they are elected. When they grab power, people's needs go to the bottom of the list, their personal gains gaining priority. This happened in the past and there's no guarantee it will not happen in the future too. This vicious
circle has to be stopped. Over to you, Mr. Prime Minister. Foul
play at tea auctions They thus indirectly reduce the purchase price by as much as Rs. 20/- per kg. of tea (depending on the grade) which the producer has to pocket out. The CTTA rules specify the dimensions of a paper sack filled with tea. But practically, at the time of packing these teas at the factories, the sizes of the sacks tend to change fractionally. Further, when loading and unloading and during transport the bag sizes could alter due to the movement of teas within the sack. These minor variations of a few millimetres are used by some of the reputed tea buyers to claim unreasonable penalties in order to make a quick profit. Tea brokers too do not stand by the producer but meekly endorse these claims, to the buyer's advantage. Let us hope
the attention of the new Minister of Plantation Industries, the
CTTA and the Chairman of the Planters' Association (PA) will be
drawn to this matter and that steps will be taken to protect the
tea producer from this unreasonable CTTA rule. Peace
or pieces on road to peace? On arriving in Vavuniya we inquired from the police and the army and they kept saying that they did not know if we could go on the A9 or not -this was on the 12th. So we decided to go to Mannar and Madhu instead. When entering Madhu the police/army took our details and let us proceed to the LTTE checkpoint via no-man's land. On chatting with them they mentioned to us that before the ceasefire/MOU the LTTE point was almost 1/2Km further away. Now they have moved forward and are constructing a permanent checkpoint. On obtaining our "visas" from the LTTE we proceeded to Madhu and got back just before the checkpoint closed at 4:30pm (LTTE Time). While in Eelam there were no checkpoints or presence of weapons but we were followed by the intelligence wing cadres in a double cab (brand new) and there were lots of LTTErs on brand-new 200CC motorbikes. The people of the area were travelling in old converted vehicles under the Eelam licence plate and running on kerosene. In Mannar, we visited the new LTTE office to inquire about visiting Jaffna and they said that the road was open to Tamils but Sinhalese had to fax the GA in Kilinochchi and get approval one or two nights before travelling. So when we got back to Vavuniya we inquired from the LTTE office again and they confirmed this. So is that what "open" means? The LTTE has free access to sensitive areas like Vavuniya but Sinhalese civilians (let alone the army/police) have no access to LTTE areas without a visa. We also visited Batticaloa and although we had to sign on the way in at Manampitiya on the way out we were not stopped (let alone checked) at all. Here again we saw many LTTE members roaming around even in convoys with official police bikes leading the way. So I do not understand how the MOU can be fair when the LTTE has access to all of Sri Lanka (even to run buses to Colombo) and Sinhalese Sri Lankans need to wait overnight for visas to drive through LTTE areas? Also how is it that no one talks about the fact that Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu areas of the Wanni were left out of the MOU. Also why aren't areas north of Valachchenai and along routes such as the Batticaloa-Badulla road via Maha Oya not open to the public (Sinhala public)? When will we have peace and unity? When any Sri Lankan can reside in any part of Sri Lanka he/she chooses to without any hassle. -Currently Tamils can do this (at least in towns) but Sinhalese have no access. When any person
can travel within Sri Lanka and not be confronted with checkpoints
or visas . Currently the LTTE can travel anywhere in Sri Lanka where
the general public can, but Sinhalese are not given the same privilege. 'Letters
to the Editor' should be brief and to the point.
Address them to: 'Letters to the Editor, The Sunday Times, P.O.Box 1136, Colombo. Or e-mail to steditor@wijeya.lk or stfeat@wijeya.lk Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned. |
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