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| Friday, 23 May 2003 |
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Letters | |
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Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
It is agreed all-round that the fines currently imposed for traffic offences are extremely low and therefore it does not act as a deterrent on errant motorists. Does the proposal to increase the fines solve the problem of chaotic traffic problems of this country? I venture to suggest that it will not. The imposition of bigger fines may encourage some of the unscrupulous police officers to accept bribes in a way not seen so much today. It is well-known that most police stations set a goal for the traffic police to nab a certain number of traffic offenders whenever they are out on the roads on such missions. What happens on such missions is well-understood by most motorists. The traffic police, in their eagerness to achieve targets set by their bosses, will catch motorists who make some of the simplest of offences. We do not want to condone any traffic offences made by motorists. But what irks us is that some of the most reckless drivers of buses and some of the three-wheeler drivers are seldom caught. I understand that some of the private buses are owned by some police officers and this may perhaps explain their indifference. Recently, I witnessed police action in Matale where they were using the speed gun to check motorists who were exceeding the speed limit of 60 km/h in the town limits. One vehicle was caught with a speed of 61 km/h and he was booked for a fine. Now, I have two questions on the validity of this action. Firstly, any instrument which gives a reading always has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 or 5 per cent. Secondly, these instruments have to be calibrated regularly. Is this being done? I very much doubt it. A person driving at 61 km/h cannot be legally booked for this alleged offence. But the police will not listen to reason. They are playing a numbers game. It is a shame that the traffic police is not after the big time traffic offenders who cause such deadly accidents with increasing frequency. Their main interest seems to be to get their numbers, so that their superior officers could send a report that so many traffic offenders were fined. I would urge the authorities concerned to take a careful look at what is happening in the traffic police before rushing to change the laws to satisfy the whims of the traffic police. A.M., I read with interest the letters you are receiving from the enlightened regarding the bringing back of the "Death Penalty". With the introduction of DNA, a testing one can be almost certain of matching the killer with the victim so the age old argument regarding innocent people being hanged is no longer an argument. As has been said by many of your letters, in the countries where severe punishment is the end result of criminals there are very few practising this art which is becoming more prevalent throughout the world today. Hanging is a deterrent, how do I know this? If you hang a murderer, one thing is for sure, he won't murder anyone else. The victim's family have the consolation that their loved one did not die in vain. Keep up the campaign for the ultimate justice. R.M., There is still a cross-section of the public who is clamouring against the re-introduction of the death penalty not with standing the fact that the murder rate has and is escalating by the day and hour. It was only a few days back that a dual murder was committed in broad daylight in the most cruel and unimaginable manner in the Nittambuwa area. Why were these, the mother and child killed? Robbery could be the plausible answer, but there may be other reasons as well. Time is running out and this is not the time to probe why such gruesome killings are taking place. Does not the criminal know that life is sacred and none has the right to take the life of another? According to the Criminal Code one has no right to take one's own life. How much more than it is to take the life of another. In this country murders are carried out on very flimsy grounds and the murder knows for certain that he will be in the main stream of society before long. Criminals cannot be brought around by coercion or preaching. They have to be addressed in their own language. Therefore the death penalty should be rigidly enforced before many more innocent lives are lost. The Minister of the Interior should go ahead with its implementation right away. If as someone pointed out that the gallows is primitive and out-dated, there are yet other modern ways of carrying out executions like the lethal injection or the electric chair. Our ancient kings deployed much more effective methods of carrying out executions and dealing with criminals. These were generally carried out in public and where the condemned was given an insight into the manner of death he would have to face. The death penalty, therefore, as many will agree, is the one and only effective deterrent that can halt the spate of killings that we are helplessly witnessing day after day. J.I. Rosairo, The letter captioned "an egg a day will keep the doctor away" by Dr. A. Nandakuamr, B.V.Sc of Hatton that appeared in the CDN of the 25th April 2003 is most timely and should receive very much more publicity among health conscious senior Sri Lankan citizens. In the USA Dr. Edward Paul Jr. Director of Medical Research and a Board member - the American Board of Professional Disability Consultants and of The Consumer Research Council of USA has this to say: An egg a day keeps the eye doctor away If you're one of my patients, you may have heard me say that eggs are close to being the perfect food, and research continues to support this. It now appears that eggs also help maintain your eye health, in particular those affected by macular degeneration, Stargardt's disease, and retinitis pigmentosa. Research shows that eating egg yolks significantly increases levels of a nutrient called lutein in the bloodstream, even more than the commonly recommended eye foods like dark leafy vegetables such as spinach. Interestingly, as eating lutein rich eggs has dropped over the past few years, a rise in retinal disease has also occurred. In fact, macular degeneration now threatens to become the next epidemic! It is the leading cause of blindness among elderly Americans today and will threaten 30 million people by 2010. How eggs help prevent retinal disease The macula is a small, sensitive area on the back inner portion of the eye (the retina) that sends visual signals directly to the brain. If this area deteriorates or is damaged, you loose central vision, like picking out a particular face in a large crowed. Increasing amounts of damage can lead to blindness. Research shows that eating egg yolks significantly increases the levels of the caratenoids zeaxanthin and lutein in the bloodstream. These antioxidants are crucial for protecting the retina from damage caused by sunlight. Lutein, in particular, appears to filter damaging forms of light from the retinal area where macular degeneration forms. Regardless of the anti-egg hype of the past couple of decades, I recommend eating an egg or two each day to maintain proper levels of lutein. The latest research on egg yolks and retinal disease continues to confirm that you can enjoy these delicious sources of vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids - with no more egg-scuses. As a senior citizen now going on 76 years, having read this have since the 1st of March 2003 been taking each day one raw egg every morning and just last week had my fasting blood tests done at a private hospital. The tests reveal all parameters as normal for both fasting blood sugar and cholesterol. I used to be taking many expensive multi-vitamin and mineral combinations with anti-oxidants and spend a lot of money unnecessarily in keeping good health. All this has been stopped since 1st of March 2003 and the egg a day has kept me feeling absolutely on top of the world as Dr. Nandakumar himself says: "Further, the high quality of protein in eggs also could reduce muscle loss in old age, whilst antibody production against diseases was also helped by eating eggs. So why wait anymore: No more egg-scuses. CECIL PERERA, "Health authorities satisfied about measures to avert SARS" Above report (DN, May 15) states that Toronto (Canada) is still a SARS affected area which is no longer true. I would like to bring your attention to the WHO update on May 14th which states "WHO has today remove Toronto, Canada from the list of areas with recent local transmission. Toronto has also been removed from the list of areas for which WHO has issued recommendations pertaining to international travel. The decision was made following a teleconference between Toronto and health Canada officials and WHO. The teleconference, which was requested by Health Canada, reviewed the adequacy of data on the SARS situation in Canada and summarised the criteria and procedures used by WHO when making decisions about which areas should be included in the list. The most important WHO consideration is whether 20 days have passed since the last locally acquired case was isolated or died. If no further cases have occurred for 20 days, which is twice the maximum incubation period for SARS, the chain of transmission is considered broken. The last locally acquired case in Canada was isolated on 20 April. WHO issues recommendations related to international travel as one of several measures designed to reduce the risk of further spread of SARS." Please refer to WHO website at: http://www.who.int/csr/sars/archive/2003 05 14 en/en/ M. MUNIDASA, Your paper reported a boxer's death due to a blow on the head on 17.05.2003. Such deaths have been reported both locally and internationally and the clinical after-effects of boxing are well documented. Hitting each other whether a referee is present or not whether wearing gloves or not, is certainly not acceptable in society today. This is a remnant of the old gladiator days of Rome and should be banned forthwith. The coroner ruled it as an accident. It is certainly not an accident but legalised murder with spectator to witness. BANDU EDUSURIYA, Which should go first? Hoardings or hawkers CMC's Deputy Mayor was reported in the newspapers as saying that he had instructed that all unauthorised hoardings in the city of Colombo should be removed immediately. Well and good. But what about the many hundred of hawkers looking not only the pavements but also the roads in the city of Colombo. The hawkers should be removed first. They not only obstruct the free passage of pedestrians on pavements but also turn abusive if a poor villager asks for the price of an item and does not purchase it. At the Bo-tree end of Olcott Mawatha in Pettah the hawkers have removed the railings of the bus shelter of route Nos. 100 and 120 - Pettah - Panadura and Pettah - Piliyandala - Horana routes and constructed makeshift shops. It is surprising that the Deputy Mayor turns a blind eye on this while he is more concerned about removing hoardings, which he says are unauthorised. Well what about the unauthorised shops that were demolished by the UDA 2 years ago near the Nawaloka Hospital. Half a dozen shops have been re-constructed and both the UDA the CMC turn a blind eye on these. Let us hope his worship the Mayor of Colombo who is a master in Urban Planning and Development takes over from his Deputy. TILAK FERNANDO, |
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