Letters to the Editor

1st December1996


Contents


Dam Upper Kotmale and damn Mother Lanka

It is sad that the government is earnestly considering going ahead with the Upper Kotmale Power Project, thus erasing from the face of this earth, for ever, one of the breath-taking sceneries which we are proud of and cherished from time immemorial. It is reported that around 250 families will be displaced and considerable acreage of cultivated, cultivable and fertile land will go under water, not to mention the impact on the ecology. The other factor to be considered, on a long term basis, is that with the population growth, land will be scarce for agriculture and also for providing housing and other amenities. So, why make this large extent of land go under water- that too productive, habitable land?

All this sacrifice is to generate 530 million units of electricity. One pertinent question to be posed is - is this addition of 530 million units going to meet the country's demand for electricity? If the answer is "NO", which is definitely so, why not go ahead with the coal plant at Mawella in Trincomalee and step on to nuclear power which will be the ultimate solution for power demand, in the next century?. If the Power Generation planners think and plan ahead in that direction, these water falls and the scenic beauty could be saved from man's viles.

Let not the future generations curse the present holders of office for this massacre when they read, only in books, of the grandeur of this blessed isle. Why live for the present? Why not pass on the tranquility we enjoy now to them.

The environmentalists, nature lovers, wildlife enthusiasts and the people of this country should rise with a resounding "No" to this project and get the authorities to convince those opposed to Coal Plant, to rethink, by explaining the advancement made in technology to control emission of harmful gases. If the option to decide between Coal and this Kotmale project is put forward to the people, I am confident that they will opt for the Coal plant.

Let not our beautiful Mother Lanka have pock marks on her beautiful face, her tresses clipped and her charm defaced and let her not be in tears for ever and ever.

A.K.Seneviratne,

Dehiwela.

Lankan cricket going downhill

Having read The Sunday Times of November 24, regarding the axing of Asanka Gurusinghe, demoting of Roshan Mahanama and getting rid of Dav Whatmore, where is this circus run by a so-called Board of Cricket of Sri Lanka taking cricket to?

I played against both Gurusinghe and Mahanama when they toured Hong Kong in 1986 or 87 and what a pleasure these two cricketers gave the crowds who came to watch them. Gurusinghe scored a hundred in every match he played here and Mahanama took some splendid catches that people here still talk about. They then continued from there and the rest is history - they were a crucial part of our team that won the World Cup.

It is sad that players of this calibre are the pawns in a game played by some vicious officials who have no love for the sport or for the country, but only to see that they are prominently placed to benefit from the achievements that all the players and the coach achieved by winning the World Cup.

Where do we now go from here? The answer is a simple one - downhill. It is sad that we Sri Lankans are allowing some bigots to run the cricket in Sri Lanka who do not care for our country. Roshan and Asanka have done great service to our cricket and they deserve that respect which is due to them.

Roshan and Asanka, keep up the good work you have done for Sri Lanka and wish you both the very best for the future.

Elyas Ismail

izzy @ asia. online. net

Fundamental rights,budget and PAYE

We have seen yet another Budget which is still being debated. It is the same old story.

This Budget too has not rectified an anomaly which has been in our tax system for quite some time, without being corrected.

It is the PAYE Tax. This is not only an anomaly, it is a violation of Fundamental Rights. It is totally against the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties enshrined in our Constitution.

According to the Constitution :

Article 12 (1) All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law.

Article 12 (2) No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds.

In view of the above, how can a Finance Minister exempt the emoluments of the Public Sector from tax and impose tax on the private sector? Can we have a clarification on this matter from Professor G.L.Peiris, himself a legal expert?

Successive governments have recognized the private sector to be the engine of growth. The employees in this Sector work harder than their counterparts in the public sector and put in longer hours, take minimum number of holidays and usually do not resort to trade union action to win their rights. Hence, they are more productive, more disciplined and contribute more positively for the development of the country.

Although there are a few hard working officials in the public sector; when the entire sector is reviewed as a whole, there is no productivity in the public sector to talk about. Government officials usually work for about two hours a day from 9.30 a.m. - 11.30 a.m. They spend most of their time doing unofficial things such as taking their children to school, marketing, gossiping, telephoning their friends, reading newspapers, running their private businesses, organizing union activities, some times sleeping, indulging in liquor and playing carrom. They only attend to the work of politicians; for obvious reasons. Departure time starts at 2.30 p.m. Delay and inconvenience to the public is not their concern. We spend hours in Police Stations, Government Hospitals, Government Departments and Courts hanging around without knowing what to do next. No one is worried about our matters or our time. In fact, the public sector is a big obstacle to the development of this country. These officials resort to trade union actions for the slightest thing. Take the case of doctors who get their education free, but go on strike when they are asked to do eight hours work. Memories are still fresh in our minds as to how we suffered under the dictatorship of the Ceylon Electricity Board employees.

It was one time argued that the public sector salaries were low. It was thought that, in order to attract people for the public sector, tax free salaries should be given. One should not forget that low salaries are for low productivity. In any case, they work only for two hours (except perhaps teachers) and not for eight hours. Therefore, for two hours, there are in fact being overpaid. Hence, salaries and tax matters should not be mixed up. The government should be careful not to discriminate a particular section of the community,causing a violation of the basic law of the land. Salary revisions have been made for the public sector several times over the years. There are pension rights which public officers and their spouses enjoy until their death, which benefit is not available to the private sector. Surely, that is a part of their salary. Private sector employees have no income after they retire. There are other perks for the public sector such as duty free car imports, shorter working hours, etc.

When a private sector employee gets a bonus after 12 months' hard work, half goes for tax. This leads to frustration. Hence, it is not logical to tax and discourage the private sector and give concessions only to the "sick" public sector. In fact, they are being subsidised by the private sector today.

If some one is working hard he should be compensated and not harassed. Therefore we cannot understand the logic behind giving concessions to the public sector. Why should the private sector alone save the nation? What additional concessions do the private sector employees get by paying taxes? Though they pay taxes and surcharges, they do not get any additional benefits. Not even a prominent place in a C.W.E. queue. It is only the Ministers and Members of Parliament, who do not pay a single cent as tax from their salary, who get body guards and security; not the tax payers. This is nonsense which should stop now. Either every one should pay taxes or no one should pay same.

We talk of a Workers' Charter. Is it only for the unproductive public servants?

There is no reason for the government to be concerned about loss of revenue even if PAYE is totally abolished. It is reported in the media very often that there is a large number of individuals who make vast sums of money, but, do not pay any tax; understandably with the help of government officials. Take for example, corruption in the Port, illicit distilleries, smuggling of textiles, gems, supply of banned items to terrorists, drug trade, commission agents, timber racketeers, baby farms, blue films etc. There are certain doctors, to get an appointment to see them, one has to wait in the queue from 4.00 a.m. Lawyers and Accountants are no exception. Do they pay correct taxes? Why only worry about the private sector employees? Is it because they are easy targets? You keep squeezing them until they bleed to death. It is believed that tax evaders could be as great as ten times or more of the actual tax payers! Inland Revenue has been pound foolish and penny wise!

When the majority does not pay tax : (1) Firstly, the country will suffer as government will lose its revenue which is needed for the development of this poor country.

(2) Secondly, it will lead to a great social injustice as the tax evaders will enjoy the benefits of development such as roads, education, health facilities etc. made possible by the genuine tax payers.

(3) Genuine tax payers will be disillusioned, frustrated and economically weak; whereas tax evaders will continue to grow powerful and amass wealth. Who is buying all the property in Colombo now?

(4) More and more probable tax payers will evade tax and this lead to a vicious circle.

It is not difficult to identify such tax evaders. Our forces were able to identify most JVPers in this country in the recent past and eliminate most of them. This is much easier than that. It is only the political will that is needed.

This is an important issue to be addressed by the policy makers urgently. We cannot leave this entirely in the hands of public officials who are policy makers. They are generally ill disposed towards and jealous of the private sector. Hence they will manipulate the whole issue and give wrong advice to the political leaders.

It is important that there should be fair private sector representation including those who pay PAYE in policy making bodies.

Render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar's................................................

W.Ranjit Karunaratne

Colombo.

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