|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Monday, 29 March 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Letters | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Sports Obituaries
|
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.
Doctors strike only southerners Trade Union action of the Government Medical Officers Association deserves condemnation of the entire nation. Equally so are some politicians who grab the opportunity and kindle it to burn the hearts of the sick and their kith and kin. This time even a train accident victim had been refused admission at the Ragama Hospital. How can man be so nefarious to mankind after seeing the oozing blood? The highest consideration given to money is not shown to a poor patient who writhes in pain. That is why even in a life saving matter of a patient a surgeon demands a couple of lakhs to perform an operation. How sad will the family and friends of a person feel if one were to die due to high charges demanded by a doctor alone to do his part of the job? After all, to whom are the doctors saving or for how many future generations are they amassing such a colossal of wealth earning by remuneration, performing operation, then by channel consultation, apart from other huge investments that would have been surely done? Cannot they realise why Alexander the Great insisted that his hands be put out of the coffin to show the people that he took nothing at death? Like an insect that runs away in fear of its life when feels of a danger, the striking doctors too love their life. That is why the doctors in the North under LTTE were performing their duties. Why could not they refuse there? Sometime back I saw how a doctor asked a person who rushed into a private hospital at Colombo 14 with a heart attack patient whether he had money to admit him to the Intensive Care Unit. When replied in negative, he was asked to take the patient to the general hospital immediately. Was it bad to save the life of that patient at that moment by providing medical attention? I do not know what happened to that patient on the way to the general hospital. I still remember Dr. Kumaran Ratnam of Ratnam Hospital who, a few decades ago, treated the poor people with whatever money they brought with them. His funeral drew the largest crowd ever in Slave Island. That is why the then 'Short Road' was named to Dr. Kumaran Ratnam Road. Such were the doctors who had golden hearts. NAZLY CASSIM - Colombo 13 The recent presentation of foreign funds to several NGO's for the purpose of election monitoring has resulted in the public becoming aware of the massive amount of funds these organisations receive. It is no secret that these organisations have a very restricted and limited membership mostly comprising of their own kith and kin. The membership of these organisations is not open to the general public. Often if not always the office-bearers remain in office until they are dead. It is the duty of these organisations to inform the public the answers to the following: (1) Who are the office-bearers? (2) When were they elected and for how long? (3) What is their membership? (4) How were the 20,000 so-called local observers selected? The office-bearers who hold press conferences in 5 star hotels travel in luxury a/c vehicles and stay in star class hotels for which payment is made by the donor agencies should release their income and expenditure statements to the public through the media and not only to the Elections Commissioner. TILAK FERNANDO - Colombo 6 Cricket, the delightful game played by "gentlemen" and, if you are in a forgiving mood to ignore the slight of old GBS, who only saw them as "flannelled fools," Gone are the days when the English-speaking world unanimously granted the game indeed was a key instrument that maketh gentlemen. Not just the players but the spectators as well. And, this, to a large measure, was arguably true. But today, alas, this hallowed sport is in itself a victim of the times; unable to break free from the general declining standards devouring most disciplines in our society. Gearing to meet the Australians before they even set foot in the island in their current visit; from what I gathered from the media, it looked psycological preparations were well afoot to "give the works" to the Australian team in general and good friend Shane Warne in particular. Sadly, some sections of the Press too joined in the fray and contributed to the generation of unnecessary heat - this entering even the editorial columns of the Sports pages. Undeniably, the treatment meted by the Aussie crowd to Murali and Arjuna, just to name two incidents is, "not cricket, at all". The absence of senior officials to receive our national team when they arrived to schedule to play a State side is in poor form. The Australian Cricket authorities cannot congratulate themselves on this patent discourtesy. Yet, this is Sri Lanka - "the land of the spontaneous smile." The capacity to forgive and forget, for starters at least in the sports field, is well within us. We have built a tremendous global reputation as a friendly and warm people. Visitors have commented they automatically feel at home the moment they set foot on Lankan soil. The celebrated Australian cricketers, current Champions of the World, indeed are our distinguished guests and it is up to us to see they are made to feel comfortable and relaxed. Australia is home to hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans and she is an important donor substantially and regularly contributing to our social and economic welfare. Shane Warne voluntarily confesses "Sri Lanka is one country I have special reasons to feel happy to visit." He must be made to continue to feel this way. Warne is no ordinary cricketer. He is one of the best in the world. In the widely-read Greg Chappel Column serialized in the respected and mass circulated Indian newspaper "The Hindu" (March 20) Chappel, referring to Warne, finds him the "best leg spin bowler to have ever played the game." An attractive tribute indeed from one of the world's greatest cricketers ever. So, if we feel hot under the collar of Warne's doings (or perceived undoing) in the cricket field, the best way to give vent to our pent-up feelings is for our chaps to pulverize each delivery of his. Consign every ball from him to the boundary to the deserving cheer of the yakkos. Giving lectures on Aussie history to Warne by those least qualified to talk of history is "not generally done". What Warne does off the field - and, certainly inside his closet, is his business. He is adult enough to know how to conduct himself on and off the field to preserve his personal integrity. Cricket, after all, is not merely a game; it's a way of life. So let's forget the hog and go for the ball - with the bat. You have done it before and you certainly have plenty within you of what it takes to do it again - and again. A. KANDAPPAH - Colombo 3 Past performance of some politicians The country is awaiting the General Elections to be held on April 2. It may be useful to look back and recognise and identify the mistakes and misdeeds with a view to have better performance and avoid questionable conduct. The hierarchy of each political party that expects to be in power would be quite concerned with the performance of their candidates. It is incorrect to presume that Government Corporations doing business cannot make profits. They certainly can make profits. But when politicians make far too many appointments, Government Corporations cannot function efficiently and effectively. In Singapore some of the most efficient world class business organizations like the Singapore Airlines are entirely Government Corporations. But the difference there is that no politicians interfere in the work of the Corporations. Appointments for the various positions are made strictly in accordance with the qualifications, efficiency and suitability of the applicants. No politicians ever try to interfere in the affairs and management of these Government Corporations. At the time of gaining Independence and thereafter for a few years Sri Lanka did maintain the desired standards needed to upkeep the democratic concept of the Separation of Powers wherein the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary did not overstep their respective boundaries. It must be stated to the credit of our first Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake that he did have a practice of meeting the Government Party Members of Parliament once in a quarter or so, and discussed the progress of programmes in their respective areas and one of the points he always stressed was that MPs should not go and interfere in the work of public servants. His advice to them was that if there was a problem somewhere they should bring it to his notice. During that period the practice of the MPs in the different Districts was to meet the Executive Officers of that District at the District Coordinating Committee (DCC) and District Agricultural Committees (DAC) held once in three months very regularly. The MPs raised their queries and questions and the Executive Officers had to provide the necessary explanations. This process of exchanges did take place quite satisfactorily. The Soulbury Constitution introduced the Public Service Commission which was an independent body and all appointments, transfers, dismissal and disciplinary matters were controlled and directed by the P.S.C. It was quite unfortunate that the Republican Constitution of 1972 vested the powers of the P.S.C. in the Cabinet of Ministers. This process led to the interference of politicians in the matters connected with the public service. The 1978 Constitution provided for the appointment of a Public Service Commission. But it also gave the Cabinet of Ministers the power to alter, vary or rescind the decisions of the Public Service Commission. This again led to the interference of politicians in matters relating to the public service. The arrangements under the Soulbury Constitution therefore were positively superior to the provisions under the 1972 and 1978 Constitutions in relation to the public service and safeguarded the rights of the average citizen who did not command any political influence. Under that fair arrangement young people who had the necessary qualifications did sit for the examinations conducted by the P.S.C. and get into responsible positions in the public service without going after any politician. But after the provisions relating to the public service under the two home made Constitutions became operative, appointments to the public service were mostly from the lists provided by politicians. It is absolutely necessary to do away with this unsatisfactory process of going by favour with regard to appointments in the public service. When the voters elect a person to represent them in the Parliament or in a Local Authority he should try to maintain the highest standards of personal conduct and honesty. There have been far too many complaints and criticism of the conduct of certain political personalities in the past and there has also been an increase in the frequency of such complaints. The political parties should make it known to their candidates that in the Democratic system, citizens who vote constitute the Sector who need to be kept happy and contented at all times. The Parties are mere agents who volunteer to undertake this task. The citizens need to be given the due care and attention at all times and not merely at Election time. L. M. SAMARASINGHE - Boralesgamuwa The comments made by Anura Bandaranaike, Senior Presidential Advisor as per DN report of March 1, there is an ulterior motive in the Premier's attempt to frighten the people by saying at election meetings that there will be a return to war if the UNF was not brought back to power at the forthcoming general elections would persuade the voters to keenly consider all aspects of the past two years of UNF rule before coming to a voting decision. In the context of the LTTE statement that they do not want war and the President too saying that she is keen to talk with the LTTE to achieve a durable peace but not war by any means confirms the interpretation given to the Premier's statement by Anura Bandaranaike. The peace that has existed since the signing of the CFA was ensured by pandering to the Tigers. Violations of the CFA by the Tigers some of a very serious nature were ignored at the expense to the integrity of the country. Governance has been shaky, bribery and corruption has been the order of the day among ministers, MPP and high officials but Premier Wickremesinghe has not been able to do anything about them. Discipline had deteriorated in the governmental structure that everything seems to be in a mess. Given such a background the public will have serious doubts as to whether the promises that Premier makes would ever be kept. I. P. NANAYAKKARA - Kalutara |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
