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| Thursday, 11 December 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. The message is loud and clear. The pivotal expression of the day is "Peace and Unity". The entire nation is crying for peace and unity. The time is ripe for all right-thinking people to consolidate their ranks and re-dedicate themselves to promote national unity and peace. It is also imperative that all parties concerned should desist from making rash, irresponsible and sensational statements thus damaging the efforts to achieve peace and unity. Herein I wish to quote a verse from the renowned Italian Poet Dante, who remarked "From a tiny spark-burst a mighty flame". Any blatant disregard of ethical and moral obligations should be deplored and anyone guilty of action calculated to inflame communal passions should be condemned. As human beings, we all are born alike, but the tragedy is that we have created artificial differences among us thus causing divisions, rifts and hatred. What are we going to achieve by these petty unimportant bickerings? Why cannot we live together as sons and daughters, brothers and sisters in one family? In this respect nature teaches us a good lesson. Rivers, mountains and the woods exist in concord and amity. In the jungle, tiny little plants and creepers exist among giant trees in harmony. We are all living under the same sun and the moon, then how come these differences? They are our own creations. Therefore only we could undo them. When sand, iron, cement and metal are kept separately, each item won't be the strong. When all these items are mixed to form concrete, it is very hard and firm and cannot be broken easily. Why should we not focus our attention to this naked truth. The biggest challenge we are faced with today is how to achieve lasting peace and unity in our motherland. Whilst the spectre of poverty, disunity and violence is rearing its ugly head, we are embroiled in namby-pamby wishy-washy good for nothing perry bickerings. Rancour and hatred have become the order of the day. The only way we could achieve the noble objective of peace is by denouncing and renouncing hatred and enmity. It is difficult but yet it is possible. This objective could be achieved only through dialogue, compromise and consensus. In this regard the words of French philosopher Voltaire are very much appropriate to the topic we discuss today. Viz: "I may not agree with what you say But I shall defend with my life your right to say it" The Black American Leader Martin Luther King (Jnr.) when he addressed his followers remarked. "Let us live brothers together or Let us perish like fools together" Let us therefore make a determined effort to achieve unity and peace at its highest and promote our motherland as a haven of peace, unity and stability, so that every man and woman could live as equals with dignity. A. Godwin de Alwis - Dehiwala. A writer from Northern Ireland, Laurence Speight, has highlighted on the dangers of vehicle pollution in Sri Lanka (DN, Dec. 3). According to the Department of Motor Traffic, the total number of motor vehicles of all kinds, registered from 1990 to 2001, was 1,066,040, motor cycles topping the list (60 per cent), the ratio being 9:1. The majority of the vehicles are in the Colombo District. Apart from these, there are old vehicles, some of them even being not roadworthy. During the period under review, 561, 328 motor cycles, 105, 652 three wheelers, 84,382 cars, 6,037 private buses, 2,477 CTB buses, 72,426 lorries, 127,101 multi-purpose vehicles, 19,827 vans, 601 ambulances, 44 hearses, 27,527 land vehicles, 45,186 land tractors and 13,452 miscellaneous vehicles have been put on the road. All these add to the risks involved in air pollution. Anyone getting on to the road, can see belching buses, lorries and vans running along the road with nauseating black fumes escaping from their exhaust pipes, polluting the air with toxic carbon monoxide gas. The traffic police do not take any steps to arrest the offenders for polluting the air, but just look on. If there is the law to prosecute such offenders, it must be done, and if there is no law, provision must be made by statute to punish them. It is due to the weakness of law enforcement officials that old vehicles, not roadworthy, are allowed to ply, in a way, polluting the air and, in a way, endangering the lives of other users of the road. In most developed countries, motor vehicles, after a certain period of use, are discarded as salvage. Air pollution by exhaust fumes is toxic to the lungs and there is always the risk of causing lung cancer, if inhaled for a certain period of time, as in factories. People must possess a sense of ecological responsibility, and make the roads free from belching vehicles. ARYADASA RATNASINGHE - Mattegoda. Railway and Chartered Engineers I read with amusement two articles that appeared in the same page of your paper (Nov. 19) under the captions. I. Putting the railway on a recovery track. II. Who is a "Chartered engineer?" What is most interesting is that in the article-I a former chief mechanical engineer of the Railway after a long tenure of service (perhaps with lots of benefits), now lecturing to a group of engineers, that 'bus transport has a clear advantage over rail transport,' the "Railway to withdrew from long distance operations - and to vacate the railway lines and build express ways". Further more, one wonders what this chief engineer had been doing in the department, when one reads the list of colossal past misdeeds of the department that he has listed in the article blaming the authorities excepting him self. The second article with a mass of words (like JVP statements) to be understood only by the "Chartered engineers" repeats the need for professionalism of Chartered engineers to meet and overcome a variety of challenges both tangible and intangible and their shared interests in upholding and enhancing standards in their strongest bulwark! The ordinary man is so puzzled by the statements of these two authors, because the effect and usefulness of an efficient railway system is time-honoured and too well-known worldwide for the development of any country. If not for the rail and road network built and maintained by the British within a span of about 80 years, when they had no Chartered engineers, equipment and facilities as today, one can well imagine the plight of this country as observed now. Because the capabilities of the chartered engineers could be well judged by their inability even to carry out the up keep and maintenance of rail and road network already built, for the last 55 years. So much for the professionalism of chartered engineers of Sri Lanka, according to whom what has to be done is to do away with all that the British have done, till the "Chartered engineers" build their express ways on the ground or in the air perhaps! BTC - Kandy. Duty free allowance It is reported that Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe has requested the Minister of Finance to increase the duty free allowance concession of migrant workers. This concession was increased from US$ 1500 to US$ 1750 at the last budget. However the more important concession has been overlooked by Minister Samarasinghe - the import of a duty free vehicle be it a van, car, motorbike etc. The FOREX remitted by Sri Lankans working abroad for this year is nearly US$ 1200 million and surpasses the 6 per cent GDP level. Therefore it is nothing but fair that the Government in return allow the duty free import of any vehicle, depending on the FOREX remitted by each person. In formulating such a scheme it is important to set limits based on the amount of foreign exchange remitted, and the number of years worked abroad, so that actual FOREX earners are only benefitted. In this connection, it is pertinent to remember that Ministers and MPs have been allowed duty free cars as also certain categories of Government and Corporation employees. Then again our cricketers were given duty free cars. They brought only fame to the country but Sri Lankans working abroad bring in FOREX regularly without which this country would be in dire straits, not to mention partial solving of the unemployment problem. Otherwise re-introduce the official permit system which was available in the seventies and eighties. This was also misused due to certain loopholes in the Regulations, which I believe, forced the authorities to abandon this scheme. There have been numerous letters on this subject from time to time over the years but no one in authority has cared to make any official comment. I am confident that the genial and generous Minister Samarasinghe will look into this matter and grant redress to all Sri Lankans working in various parts of the globe. VERNON DAWSON - Dehiwela. Use bilingual skill I read articles and letters published in your daily almost on a daily basis and I've contributed articles to promote peace in Sri Lanka. Today I read the article entitled, "Unity and peace essential" by Upali S. Jayasekera. The point which struck me most is the idea of bilingual skill that has to be achieved by the politicians, if they want to serve the people of Sri Lanka. My visit to Canada on several occasions has helped me to affirm with confidence that by speaking Sinhalese and Tamil fluently and switching over from one language to the other while speeches are made by the politicians will definitely give them the access to the hearts minds of all the people in Sri Lanka. In Canada, the politicians with from one language to the other without any hesitation in the middle of speeches, TV interviews and while talking to the Canadians when they visit their constituencies. Let us take this cue from Canada. That will also serve as a catalyst to break through barriers that is one of the blocks on the pathway to a longstanding peace in Sri Lanka. VARATHA SHANMUGANATHAN - via email. VAT school fees Previous Budget introduce VAT on school fees. Many parents have written to the Finance Minister in disagreement of this tax. But there was no response. The Budget has not made any changes, but increased same. There are very few private schools in the island, other than the recently set up so-called International Schools. These private school have been in existence for more than 50 years. They perform a very valuable, essential and noble service to the nation. Especially, helpful to desperate parent who were not lucky or smart enough to get their children admitted to the national schools. It is very strange that a tax on education is levied to a small fraction of parents, when the majority enjoy free education up to the University level. Further, when the state spend a colossal sum on free education, uniform material and sports etc. few unlucky parents spend for all such items and pay a tax also in addition to the state. This is ridiculous. N. H. G. SENEVIRATNE - Kandy. Proposed night bus service The idea of making buses available at night to travel to suburbs of Colombo is a laudable one. There are many people who travel in the nights especially the shift workers of various Government and mercantile organisations. Late night movie goers too could use this facility. Then there are travellers who come to Colombo late at night from outstations and night time bus services will be useful to these people too. Even though the passenger loads will not be as heavy as during daytime, well planned out bus services with buses running at suitable intervals could be beneficial to the passengers as well as bus operators. There has been a proposal by Private Bus Owners Association to charge double fare from night time passengers. This is highly absurd. Those who use buses at night will be from lower income groups and it is not fair to charge double fare from them. Further during night, there will not be heavy traffic on the roads and buses will not have to burn fuel as done during daytime. The time tables of night time bus services should be well planned and bus operators should be requested to strictly follow the time tables. Specific times should be assigned for buses to leave main junctions like Bambalapitiya and Nugegoda. Even when there are not many passengers, the buses should leave main junctions at the specified times. If the night time services could be operated in a well planned manner these could be made very popular among passengers because presently, many people have to hire expensive taxis for night time travel from Colombo. DIXON SILVA - via email. |
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