They came, they dug and they dumped
They first brought truck loads of sand and metal
and dumped by the roadside in the middle of the busy part of Kandy city.
That caused immense suffering to the residents of Kandy with all the
parking space on the road taken away from them.
Then they came with the excavators in the evenings and blocked off the
busiest road in Kandy and made trenches. They dug into the newly laid road
surface in preparation for the independence celebrations.
They then laid their cables and went away leaving large holes in the
middle of the road for weeks. The sand and dust they left behind polluted
the town for weeks. The large holes have since been filled but the beautiful
road surface is no more. Peradeniya Road now resembles the face of a criminal
whose scars tell a sordid story.
This is the sordid story of our roads.Telecom seems to be the chief
perpetrator of these crimes on our roads,leaving what little we have as
our roads with scars and carbuncles.
They did not stop there. They then dug up the roads within the municipality
and left the soil that is dug up on the middle of the road for weeks.This
is a common practice by them wherever they dig up roads, leaving room for
vehicles to pass single file only.
The soil eventually got washed off and clogged the drains, causing further
misery to people by flooding the roads whenever it rained heavily.
This week they have gone further. They actually blocked off the famous
tunnel at Annewatte, that carries all the traffic to this residential area
at the busiest time of the day and did so repeatedly without any regard
to the public inconvenience.
Kandy Municipality in the meanwhile, watched with helplessness that
is typical of Sri Lankans.So much for the timid and impotent municipality
Kandy residents have elected for themselves.
The above are some instances and only a fraction of the damage that
Telecom does to our roads on a given day. True our roads are some of the
worst maintained roads in the world. Do we need the Telecom to cause further
misery to the suffering public? Or have we inadvertently privatised the
roads too to Telecom? Why do we allow a private company that charges us
exorbitant rates for our telephones to destroy what little we have as our
roads? Do privately owned telephone companies in the rest of the world
too use the roads to distribute their cable systems? These are some of
the questions that residents of Kandy ask.
Questions that are best answered by the Road Development Authority and
Telecom. Kandy residents would like to receive a reply to this letter from
either of the above.
We know our municipality has no answers as they are as helpless as we
are against a large company.
Dr.Ranil Abeyasinghe
Faculty of Medicine Peradeniya
Life is not worth living like this!
I live in Colombo. My house is situated on a small
block of land which has two road frontages. From 6.00 a.m till about 10.00
pm there is a never ending flow of traffic along this road up and down,
emitting a large volume of fumes, mostly from diesel vehicles, which covers
the entire surrounding. I can feel the smoke. I breathe it. Small particles
of dust and carbon settle down on me and on all the objects in our household
including what we wear, what we eat and the foliage plants we grow. Our
cat who has a white coat is almost black now. If my furniture is not dusted
for a few days, an ugly layer of black oily dust can be seen covering the
surface. In the night a cloud of dust can be seen in the sky. I can therefore
hardly see the stars now. I cannot drive without putting the shutters and
turning the A/C on, adding more dangerous gases to the air.
I know that this carbon, dust and smoke is bad for my health. It could
cause asthma, lung cancer and complications in the brain, heart and blood
circulation. But there is nothing that I can do about it. There is no one
in authority who is concerned about this.
I have heard that there are fundamental rights in the law books to safeguard
my right to breathe good air. There is the Central Environmental Authority,
Colombo Municipal Council and a host of other State Agencies which should
check and control the air pollution.
If this is the cost of development and industrialization, I totally
reject it. Life is not worth living like this. Better live in a quiet village,
without vehicles, without TV and without telephones, rather than living
amidst industrial waste and pollution.
A Citizen of Colombo
Colombo 6
He should not have died
Just three months back, my 13 year old grandson
was knocked down by a reckless jeep driver off Kalutara North on Galle
Road when he was on his way for tuition. The boy was rushed to the Nagoda
Hospital in Kalutara by a good Samaritan. He was there for ninety long
minutes, just outside the accident ward in constant agony, appealing for
help.
"Uncle, mawa beraganna" was his repeated appeal when the little
boy was being examined by the ward doctor. The boy was not taken into the
X'Ray room for better diagnosis as the X'Ray technicians were out playing
'games'. The boy was kept outside the X'Ray room for ten minutes and brought
back. Offers of blood by the mother of this only child were brushed aside
by the learned doctor.
The surgeon was not available. May be the unfortunate boy was admitted
at the wrong time - when doctors were engaged in more lucrative practice.
Finally after ninety minutes, the doctor decided to send him to the
ICU, probably for better treatment and diagnosis. But, alas, before the
poor boy could be wheeled in to the ICU, he breathed his last. What a pathetic
death!
Can this not be termed negligence or callousness? Couldn't more prompt
action have been taken to ease the sufferings of the boy with a view to
saving his life? Why was he allowed to suffer and die in pain after he
had reached the portals of this provincial hospital, which has all facilities?
I appealed to the Minister of Health to order an enquiry into this sad
state of affairs with a view to saving the lives of at least future patients
who seek remedy at this hospital. I appealed through both English and Sinhala
newspapers for an opportunity for us to open our hearts to the authorities.
Our hearts have been bleeding since then. But, it is regrettable that no
action has been taken to alleviate our sufferings, despite assurances by
the Minister that prompt action would be taken if such instances of negligence
were brought to his notice. A couple of similar tragedies have been highlighted
in the newspapers, since then but of what avail?
I appeal now to all kind hearted citizens of the country to ensure justice
is done. Let something be done to prevent sufferings of this nature in
the future. I appeal for mercy on the suffering masses.
F. R. Ragel
Kalutara North
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