| Letters
to the Editor |
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Deploy policemen
in mufti on buses Many suggestions,
like educating the public or teaching ethics to bus crews, cannot
be implemented overnight and police authorities point out that they
need a bigger cadre of traffic policemen. However, there
remains a simple and effective remedy which will have an immediate
positive impact on the problem. I often travel
to work by bus and on every ride, I observe serious violations of
road rules with several "near misses" mainly due to the
competition to grab as many passengers as possible, irrespective
of whether buses are privately or state owned. On any journey,
recklessness waxes and wanes with sudden improvements in driving
resulting from the sighting of traffic policemen. When traffic
law violations occur, I think to myself, why a small squad of traffic
policemen in civvies cannot be deployed on buses. Drivers who
violate traffic rules could be booked at the final destination without
inconveniencing commuters. If this strategy - which was introduced
some years ago but stopped due to protests by private bus owners
is tried again, a drastic drop in violations can be expected overnight.
An added advantage
will be a reduction in harassment of women passengers by perverts
and pick-pocketing. A large contingent
of policemen may not be needed for this purpose as they can pick
the routes, times and buses at random. A bus journey
to the past Such a system
prevailed up to the early forties with single owners running their
buses on a single route. The subsequent mayhem led to fatal accidents
and disputes between gangs of rival owners. Of course, the victims
were the innocent passengers and by-standers. The crisis was solved
by the introduction of what was called the "Nelson Scheme"
whereby limited liability bus companies were formed with specific
route allocations. Conductors
adhered to the rules of not overloading, tickets with serial numbers
were issued and the buses were on time. Then there were "Nelson
body" buses. The company being a large conglomerate had good
infrastructure to maintain a good service with minimum breakdowns.
The 1956 takeover
of bus companies led to heavy losses, inefficiency and corruption
and within a couple of decades, the state-run bus service became
a liability. Save us from
private bus mafia Whatever the
drawbacks, the CTB did a good job. In 1977, the CTB was destroyed
and the masses were in the grip of the private bus mafia. Ministers and
their cronies travel in Mercs, Audis, and Volvos, when the common
man does not even have a proper bus service to get to a destination
without trouble. The present
UNF Cabinet boasts of many skilled scholars and their administrative
and business skills. I earnestly request them to save the masses
from this private bus mafia and restore the CTB to its past glory.
After all, they destroyed the CTB after 1977, didn't they? Niroshan Srideva
murder: Police inactive, says father As there was
no progress even after six months, I appealed to the authorities
through the media. I do not know as to what happened to the earlier
teams allegedly investigating the case. In February
2002, a team of three officers was once again appointed by the DIG/CID.
They promised to investigate the matter within a month. Recently these
officers told me that their superiors had instructed them to investigate
some other politically connected case as a priority. That perhaps
is the sad conclusion of my son's case. For the past 11 months,
I have suffered great mental distress, after losing my son, a final-
year medical student. I appeal to
the Prime Minister and the Minister for Interior Affairs to order
an urgent investigation. By doing this,
I believe the government would satisfy my distressed mind and also
teach a lesson to underworld leaders. Targeting Indian
market To capture
the Indian market, we should manufacture more. Therefore, the need
of the hour is for the political leadership and all other sectors
to collectively evolve a disciplined work culture aimed at higher
production and a sound export base. Post Office
toilet mess Those who have
to answer a call of nature are greeted by a nauseating stench. This much-neglected
section of the building is a health hazard. Ineffective
speed barriers Heavy vehicles
hardly pause at these places. Buses crowded with people and lorries
laden with goods never slow down. So why not scrap these speed breakers? In praise of
ETF Board Mr. Joseph
has written about non-payment of his ETF claim forwarded in early
February upto May. His claim was
received by us on February 12 and rejected due to some errors. Later
it was paid on May 22. After that he wrote a letter praising the
attention given by the ETF Chairman to his request.
1. There is
only one Sri Lanka, and thou shalt not attempt to divide it in the
name of ethnicity, religion, cast, language or politics. 2. Thou shalt
not swear by false states, or desecrate the unity and integrity
of Sri Lanka and her people. 3. Thou shalt
rest after two decades of fighting and honour peace agreements with
deep respect and mutual understanding. 4. Thou shalt
respect and obey the democratically elected leaders and laws of
thy motherland. 5. Thou shalt
not kill any citizen or have recourse to violence as a means of
conflict resolution. 6. Thou shalt
not adulterate freedom, liberty, democracy and dignity of her citizens.
7. Thou shalt
not misappropriate public resources, take bribes or demand ransom,
but consider how much thou should give to the country. 8. Thou shalt
not deceive the public through the media, but be sincere and honest
in leading the citizens. 9. Citizens
from the north and the south should have the same opportunities,
privileges and rights wherever they are in the country. 10. Fourteen
percent of the population should not covet one third of the country,
and two thirds of the coast. The ugly side
of special police promotions Though I am
not in the service, anymore, it has evinced my interest. These special
promotions have disrupted the careers of many police officers. Promotions,
including special promotions, should be given according to predetermined
criteria. For example, during the former regime, applications were
called for special promotions from officers of the ranks of Sub-Inspectors
and below, who have stagnated for a long period but possess a clean
record. This scheme
was popularly known as "Janasaviya" or "Samurdhi".
However, we now come across police personnel who have been awarded
special promotions for no reason. There have been instances when
the constable or the driver who did odd jobs for seniors have been
promoted. This procedure has demoralised the police service. The recent
special promotions seem to have been finalised in a somewhat "covert"
operation. No applications from either the respective officers or
SSP divisions were called. Many deserving officers wonder how they
were left out, while some who have not performed impressively or
those who face disciplinary action or court cases have been the
lucky recipients of special promotions. None from the CID or the
Special Branch has been promoted. When good officers
are demoralised, it will adversely affect not only the Police Department,
but also the society at large. Will the Minister
for Interior Affairs take cognisance of this situation and take
urgent and appropriate remedial action? Punishment without
parole The general
view is that punishments for grievous offences are inadequate. For instance,
a person charged with murder and found guilty is sentenced to death.
This sentence is never carried out. His sentence is commuted to
life imprisonment but he gets remissions for good behaviour and
finally is released in ten years or so. Should not
such people be sentenced to life in prison without parole, so that
they won't pose a danger to society. The Minister
of Justice should urgently amend the laws. Imprisonment without
parole is a must for dastardly crimes. Polonnaruwa
UFO: Don't dismiss it? When hundreds
of people had seen the object and described it in similar fashion,
I cannot understand how Sir Arthur could dismiss this as mass hysteria.
A group of
sane villagers, who had seen the same object and sensibly described
what they saw, cannot be classified as mentally ill people. It is true
that under certain weather and light conditions, night sky objects
like weather balloons, meteors can be mistaken as strange objects.
But these cannot move swiftly as described by those who claim to
have seen the light. Sir Arthur
asserts that the world would know even if any object larger than
a pebble makes an entry. What makes him so certain that beings more
intelligent than man have not invented something to break our sophisticated
radar barriers? Ironically,
the US has invented spy planes to fool any radar system. What we cannot
prove must not be dismissed as non-existent. For example, thousands
of years ago, man disbelieved disease-causing bacteria, as they
could not see it. But today, we have the technology to see bacteria
and believe in its existence. B. Joseph '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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