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| Wednesday, 24 September 2003 |
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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.
Helping visually handicapped children Unlike in the past people are more aware of the plight of the differently abled children. As a result governments and non governmental organizations have initiated various programmes to help these children. However there is a group of differently able children who can be greatly helped by a simple remedy. This group consists of children who are not totally blind but with impaired vision in both eyes that cannot be improved by currently available methods. Congenital bilateral macular degeneration and nystagmus are some of the conditions that can lead to this type of impairment. At present these children attend ordinary schools with normal children and have to compete with them. However since they cannot read usual text books or reading is uncomfortable, they lag behind. As a result they usually are at a disadvantage in competitive examinations like GCE O/L, A/L etc. However some of these children can be helped by simple remedies like printing text books with large letters and dark ink. The same thing can be done during examinations to print a limited number of question papers with large texts and dark ink. Already in developed countries these measures are in place. Already a non governmental organization in NuwaraEliya district has promised to help the children in this area. However up to now no such measures had been taken in other parts of the country according to my knowledge. I strongly believe this should be addressed at a national level. DR.S.D. KODITUWAKKUARACHCHI, Submission of income tax returns for the tax year 2002/2003 I was a very marginal payer of income tax until the tax year 2000/2001, as my principal sources of income are 1) My Government pension of Rs. 6,200 per month, 2) Dividend Income from shares and 3) Interest from investments in Treasury Bills and fixed deposits in NSB - in which I had invested my commuted gratuity and the savings I had been able to achieve after over 39 years of dedicated service. In terms of the announcements made in the budget speeches in 2001 and 2002, I am now not a taxpayer as 2 and 3 above are said not to be part of my assessable income and the pension too is free of tax. A friend of mine has just received from the Dept., of Inland Revenue a 'Tax Return Form' and 'Guide' for 2002/2003. The Guide with attached 'correction sheet' states as follows: (iv) Exemption Limit - If your assessable income does not exceed Rs. 240,000 you are not liable to tax. "However, any interest on deposits or dividends may subject to withholding tax (final)". These words are to be added on as per the correction sheet but I am quite unable to understand them. Thanks to the advice given to me by a senior retired public servant, I had in past years an annual dividend income of around 120,000 which with the incidence of ACT helped me to get an income from dividends of approx. 180,000 while my income from treasury bills and fixed deposits was around 100,000. The removal of ACT reduced my annual income by around 60,000 and a further 10% is levied on the taxable dividend as per the budget speech. I find from the dividend counterfoils received that in many cases the tax at source is somewhat less than 10% of the total taxable dividend while in some cases amounts are shown as ACT and I am instructed to declare such amounts as income in my 'Return of Income'. Primary dealers through whom I invest in treasury bills and repurchase agreements have told me that the Govt. has recovered tax at 10% at source on these instruments and that hence my income from these sources should not be part of my assessable income, but I have no written document to submit in support of such claim. I am now thoroughly confused and very worried that through lack of knowledge I may fall foul of the tax authorities. I hope some learned officer of the Dept. of Inland Revenue will clarify these matters so that persons such as myself, who have been bona fide and law-abiding citizens can rest easy in our old age. R. WEERASINGHE, Sri Lanka - a major tourist destination It was only recently that our Prime Minister mentioned that his Government is making every effort to make Sri Lanka a major tourist destination and thereby attract funds into this country. We can run advertising campaigns abroad depicting our island home as a paradise. But is it really? I have travelled widely and I am deeply ashamed to say this - We are one of the filthiest and dirtiest nations in the world. From the moment you step out of a plane at BIA you see a lot of dirt. I think charity begins at home.We can attract the Ritz chain of Hotels to this island but it is no use if our roads, walkways, marsh lands and beach are polluted and dirty, strewn with garbage. One cannot walk on the beach it is filthy, one goes to the beach to relax but you end up watching your next step. You go to our cultural triangle, you see mounds of dirt. Our roads are filthy; most of them are full of potholes and garbage. When it rains it is worse than a pigsty. One cannot walk on the pavements they are full of hawkers and illegal structures, thereby ends up walking on the road. Canals are polluted and are eternal breeding grounds for mosquitoes; above all the stench is unbearable. There aren't any public toilets if there are any many are dirty, out of order. Trains, train stations, buses, bus stations and hospitals are in deplorable conditions. I think we should rectify this before we start counting the dollars. The CMC, UDA, and RDA along with whatever government that is in power should take full responsibility and see to it that this problem is eradicated, rather than filling pockets. The CMC, RDA and UDA are some of the corrupt and lethargic institutions in this country. Given a chance they are experts at passing the buck, stop passing the buck and do some honest work for once. Take cues from other developed countries. Where the system is right. We are not the most civic-minded, the reason is when the authorities stop doing the job, and the public gives up too. Its pointless putting up signs "Your Tax Money at Work" when there is no proper work done. It's a fruitless exercise if one builds a road and forgets about it. please maintain it. If you do something do it right and do it once. Be honest. Educate the public on this matter, you help them and they will help you keep and maintain a clean city and a country. Enforce laws to maintain the hard work on the way to achieving this if you have to. If a foreigner arrives in our country and sees it is filthy, he's sure to remember this rather than the places of interest he has visited. Once he goes back home he will mention the dirt before anything else. What's the use of all the advertising and promotion? I sincerely hope we can eradicate this growing problem of garbage, if we put aside petty politics and do an honest job. V. ANANDARAJAH, The photograph in the Daily News of Sept. 3, shows how the exotic palmyrah palms planted at the Galle Face Green have wilted or withered away, due to lack of proper maintenance and care. If I remember correct, these palms were brought from Jaffna at a cost of Rs. 50,000 each. After all, what a collosal waste of money? The Colombo Municipal Council, responsible for the proper maintenance of these palms, has turned a blind eye, showing a lethargic attitude, in not doing their duty, to keep the city beautiful, specially as a means of tourist attraction. Today, it has lost its splendent charm. Although the city fathers call for public attention, to keep the city clean and tidy, how far have they been successful? Instead of keeping these palms in their present wilted state, it is better to uproot and throw them away, in order to increase the splendour of the Galle Face Green. Will it not be a good riddance of bad rubbish? To allow the palms to remain and deteriorate further, destroying the scenic beauty of the place, only shows that the Council is not devoted to fulfil its duty towards the public. Why not the city fathers step into Singapore and see the difference, only to realise how much backward they are. The Council has a large strength of personnel living on taxes collected from the city dwellers, but it is not keen to make the city beautiful but allow nature to have its own way. ARYADASA RATNASINGHE, When SLT was a government department, we all paid a monthly rental of Rs. 100. When this was made a private company, the monthly rental was increased to Rs. 240, i.e. 150% in excess. Further, to get a telephone connection we had to pay a down-payment of Rs. 18,000 to SLT, when this was a few thousand rupees during the departmental days. Now SLT has found another ruse and is raising the rental to Rs. 450. Whether you utilise the phone up to 200 units or not at all; you will have to pay Rs. 450. This ruse will severely affect the middle class users of telephone. I am an elderly single person who has a telephone out of necessity. My telephone is there more to receive calls than to originate calls. My average monthly rental up to July 2003, was Rs. 300 only. Now I have to pay a further Rs. 150 in excess of 50%. What justice is there for SLT to increase their tariff? Why should they dupe the ordinary poor people? M.A.KUTHOOS, The dissatisfaction and frustration among the people who are unable to achieve their legitimate rights, political or economic, democratically, and where there is lack of justice and the easy access to weapons of destruction, can give rise to acts of terrorism and violence. If there is no war there will be no ground to test newly invented weapons and the disposal of stocks of out- dated obsolete weapons amassed by advanced nations would be difficult. Politics plays an important role here. History has shown that it is the poor and under-developed nations which fall prey to world politics and become a fertile ground for dumping excess, out-dated weapons, places where new weapons could be sold for testing. The rich manufacturing nations amass wealth at the cost of millions of suffering people of the poor nations. The precious lives of advanced nations when destroyed are highlighted while the great number of people in countries like Iraq, Vietnam, Africa, etc. killed in action against their intruders are not given adequate publicity and fall into oblivion. What a world we live in! The Malaysian prime minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamed has said that as long as the business of weapons of mass destruction go on unchecked, violence and terrorism will be hard to control. Just imagine the colossal number of weapons being produced the world over utilizing the limited world resources polluting the earth and increasing human suffering. In the name of democracy and freedom, facts have been twisted and exaggerated to deviate the attention from economic needs and development to the necessity of defending one's independence which has been threatened caused by chaos and divisions among the people from external forces. Unless and until the world realises the urgent need of controlling restricting the manufacture and sale of weapons peace talks will have limited success. HARRIS DOLL, |
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