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| Thursday, 3 June 2004 |
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It is reported that the President of the CocaCola Division of India has called on the Minister of Trade obviously with the intention of getting Ministerial intervention to get the excise duty on soft drinks reduced. He has mentioned that the benefits will be passed down to the consumer which will increase direct and indirect employment opportunities. Hundreds of thousands of both children and adults are afflicted with some kind of diabetes which has now become a scourge not only in developed nations but in the third world countries too, thanks to the Cola giants. Any Cola drink contains well over ten spoonfuls of white sugar which nutritionists refer to as white poison and sugar is empty calories which is the main culprit of obesity too. Sugar is the greatest scourge that has ever been visited on mankind in the name of food and any Cola is sugar in a devious form. At least two dozen pages could be written on the evils of sugar quoting experts and professionals from all over the world but it will be superfluous since our readers are intelligent enough to grasp the dangerous effects of taking Cola drinks. Cola drinks are good to clean toilet bowls, motor vehicle battery terminals and the list goes on. We know that the Minister cannot ban Cola drinks as the entire country will have to suffer if the US controlled World Bank and the IMF stop aid to Sri Lanka at the behest of the multinationals when they are hurt. So the best that can be done is to either increase the Excise duty on soft drinks or not to reduce by any means if you are interested in the health of all the Sr Lankans, particularly the young ones. Whom are these Cola producers trying to bluff? DAYA W. WAKISHTA - Australia. The way Sonia Gandhi handled the political situation during the past few days, following her historic victory, sadly reminds us of what the political leaders of many other countries lack - nobility and grace. After the dramatic election results in India, everyone thought that Sonia Gandhi would be the next Prime Minister. But unexpectedly she declined the post. I think it was the right decision for her. By taking the decision she has created an example in politics. For this decision, the BJP is now totally defeated, because most of the BJP members were going too far on the issue of Sonia's origin. Sonia's decision will not only increase her acceptability to the Indian people as a true leader, but also to the whole world. We are not only perplexed but also appalled at Sonia's decision to jettison Premiership. Typically, by discarding the party proposal she proved that she is politically urbane and pragmatic really, she is the victim of BJP's xenophobia. It maligned Sonia Gandhi scurrilously. It is ambiguous to me why Mr. Vajpayee keeps mum while the rank and file of the BJP opposes Sonia as PM of India, which is undemocratic. Sonia has been the citizen of India since 1983, and she has every right to be Prime Minister as declared by the Supreme Court of India. It is evident that BJP members are politically narrow minded and parochial. They should keep in mind that though they are advanced in IT and space technology, they are not politically civilized. They lack political decorum and decency. Sonia Gandhi created history twice within the span of a mere week, first by leading the Congress to victory in the general election against all odds; and second, by declining the post of Prime Minister something unthinkable in the politics of this region. The return on such moral investment is invisible and invincible. The good will thus created is charged, and the dividend would be seen in the near future, when she bounces back, undisputed and unopposed. She beat Vajpayee, the outgoing PM, in his own game-he was good enough to give up like a true gentleman with humility. These examples would set precedents in the SAARC region in changing political cultures. The masses had been under duress these decades for third class leadership, barring some rare exceptions. Any sort of appreciation regarding Sonia Gandhi is insufficient. What she showed the worldly people will go down in history in golden letters. When the politicians are addicted to power, it is not easy to put aside the offer of becoming Prime Minister of a country. After defeating the BJP in the Indian election, she refused to take over as Prime Minister. What a sacrifice! A. ABDUL AZIZ - Negombo. Drain damaged or brain damaged? For people to walk along Polhengoda Road daily, especially from the turn off from the highway to Andarawatta Road, is a nightmare. This stretch is full of potholes, drains that are blocked, and water flooded over the road. As many parts of this road are too narrow for even two vehicles to pass, pedestrians often are forced to descend into the drain to avoid being knocked over by passing vehicles. Reminds us of ancient Sri Lanka when the lower castes (pedestrians) had to step down from the road when Royalty (present day vehicle owners) were passing the way. Repeated appeals to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Commissioners, Engineers have fallen on deaf ears. The excuse given is that since this road is to be widened one day, which might be in 1-10 years, repairing it will be a waste of money. Of course, just before the elections the Mayor and the engineers concerned visited the area and promised to get the new road started this year. The Andarawatta Road was suddenly tarred and fixed a day before the election. Of course not for long, as now they have dug up their own handiwork to put in new drain pipes. In the meantime the people can fall ill because of blocked drains and spreading dengue, children can walk to school drenched in muddy water be bitten by mosquitoes and get no proper sleep, die, who cares? Even at this moment when dengue is on the increase, the CMC has made no effort to take any action. There need not be huge garbage dumps or massive blocked drains to create health hazards right throughout the year. A small pool of water is sufficient to breed thousands of mosquitoes. It is a known fact that insects and mosquitoes are very clever at adapting to any kind of environment. Also, a Health Ministry warning informed us that dirty water after stagnant for a few days can become clean. Requests to the police to make this road one way during peak hours and ban heavy vehicles have not got any results. I was made to understand that the Road Development Authority and CMC have been repeatedly informed and the delay is on their part. Thank God for small mercies. The Medical Officer and the Public Health Inspector of the Kirulapona Municipality, Pest Control Mobile Unit and Dr. Balasuriya at the Public Health Department, CMC have taken prompt action when necessary. I am sure this is an everyday story in many parts of Sri Lanka. All the more reason for people to complain. Mr. Mayor, this is your constituency. If you are unable to take care of your area, who can? C. PERERA - Colombo 5. I am writing this with disappointment over the lethargic performance of the activities of the Sanitary Department who are responsible for promoting healthy environment in Colombo City for not taking suitable action in regard to my complaint. The story goes like this...as you find in some utility articles for every day use the words engraved 'Water Proof', 'Shock Proof' and Inca Block (Proof Against all ) there lies a Bi-Lane connecting famous Sea Street, Colombo-11 which can be termed as 'Complaint-Proof'. This 4 feet wide stretch of small lane in front of the bus-halt is used by many, customers of jewellery shops as a short cut to Sea Street immediately they get down from buses plying to and from Kotahena, Elakanda, Wattala, Angulana, Dehiwala and Maharagama. The Sea Street side of this 4 feet wide lane has been converted to a toilet for urinating and dumping of garbage while some people use it as a latrine thereby spreading an unbearable bad smell causing headaches and vomiting sensation to the users of this only available approach road to the main road. Complaints about this made to relevant authorities are attended to, and investigated into, but left unpersuaded and un-punished to the culprits due to reasons beyond our control and understanding. The permanent residents of this lane, shops and boutique owners have got together and discussed this as a health-hazard, a big threat to the destroying of Dengue mosquitoes too. They have arrived at the decision to term this as a 'Complain-Proof' matter and request the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources to look into this and solve this urgent problem. Namasivayam Vishnu Bharath - Colombo 11. This is to enlighten Selliah Nageswaran (DN May 25) under the caption 'Visa regulation'. Also to place correct facts before Daily News readers who would have got misled by his submission. It is a known fact that when a Sri Lankan is accepted as a citizen of another country that Sri Lankan automatically ceases to become a citizen of his country of birth. Once a Sri Lankan ceases to become a Sri Lankan citizen when obtaining citizenship in another country, he becomes a foreigner, and the law '30-day visa' applies to him, a regulation that applies to all non-Sri Lankan foreigners. To aviod this 30-day visa law, the Sri Lankan needs to reapply for Sri Lankan citizenship thus gaining dual citizenship. To gain dual citizenship one has to pay approximately US $ 2000. Years ago, when my wife, our son and I were accepted as US citizens, we ceased to be Sri Lankan citizens, and we had to pay the Government of Sri Lanka approximately US $ 5000 to regain our citizenship thus becoming dual citizens. The only way Mr. Nageswaran could avoid this 30-day visa regulation is by regaining Sri Lanka citizenship thus becoming a dual citizen. If he is so concerened about his country of birth, let him spend some money he is earning in UK to regain the Sri Lankan citizenship, so that he will be exempted from the 30-day visa regulation. I doubt Government of Sri Lanka will change this regulation to facilitate people who do not want money to go to Sri Lanka coffers, money that is used for the welfare of Sri Lankans and that country's development. DAYA GAMAGE - USA. |
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