|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Monday, 21 June 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.
In the past few days there were many reports of an employee of a new private bank being involved in a massive fraud. Different reports on Press, TV and Radio put the loss at figures ranging from Rs. 4.0 M to Rs. 60.0 M, an indicator that even the bank concerned has still not really ascertained the extent of the loss. Most of the reports claim that misappropriated money was spent at casinos and on gambling. Adding to the confusion are conflicting reports on whether culprit/s have been arrested with some papers claiming that the key person has fled the country. Despite all this, the bank concerned has still not come out openly to assure the depositors that all deposits are safe and not to panic. With the actual bank still unknown, there is said to be a drain of money from the many recently set-up private banks as all the smaller banks are under suspicion, even more so as few of them are actually owned and run by casino owners and businessmen of doubtful repute. This one act of a misguided employee is threatening the entire financial sector as the failure of one bank very often, leads to the failure of many others, a rule known in international banking circles as Herstatt Rule. Just as the Sri Lankan public were forgetting the Pramuka Bank fiasco and gaining some degree of confidence in the new banks, this incident has rudely shaken them reminding that all banks are not equally safe. This is of course an eye-opener to many depositors who are driven by high rates and gifts offered when deciding on a bank, ignoring important criteria such as how long in existence, quality and reputation of the Directors and Managements, availability of unencumbered capital for emergencies and amounts of bad debts. It is true, there was a time when public could safely assume that all banks are equally well run and supervised. But sadly no longer so. Succumbing to pressures of politicians, Central Bank authorities have been often forced to grant banking licenses to unworthy parties and to break laws that specify limits on bank shareholdings. Having made the mistake of permitting the wrong parties to open banks, at least let the Central Bank carry out their role as supervisors in a diligent, intelligent and unbiased manner. This is the least a good Central Bank can do to justify its expensive existence. DR. L. S. RANDENIYA - Kandy 'Globalisation of sensitivities' in South Asia South Asia has the world's most populous youthful growing set of communities. These people are poor and rural by global standards. Globalisation has been 'hollowing out' the more advanced areas in this region. Wages in the region's globalised workplaces are declining. (Sri Lanka's export garments workers' monthly wages have fallen from USD 50 to USD 30 between 1983 and 2003, a high growth period for this industry). Isn't it time we organise for decent social living for our people? A SAARC for what? Global capital or global people? Our stand is for our regional countries: 1. To develop certain common standards and fronts in dealings with capital movements and ownership of large companies. 2. To develop common standards and fronts in dealings with the agents of the global system as donors and World Bank/IMF. 3. To develop common standards of decency of workplace and treatment of workers. 4. To develop common standards of minimum wages. 5. To develop common standards of decent housing and social infrastructure for all. Our campaign is to create and promote, within our regional countries, a grass roots level activism of direct action including. 1. Creating awareness of the World Bank/Donors/State Ministries/Elite Corporates and Professions nexus which is the complex that is causing our problems and economic distortions. 2. Creating actions that challenge and overcome this Capital Using Complex in simple activities as housing or agricultural development in a way that is developmental and creates the participation of the people in the exact operations of Capital and prices in the economy. 3. Creating public demands for a people driven SAARC. DR. LENNIN REGHUVANSHI PVCHR - Varanasi, India DR. DARIN C. GUNESEKERA - Wiros Lokh Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka 'Asbestos in the workplace: A difficult legacy' Several articles have appeared in our local publications on the subject of asbestos fiber from time to time, which we have responded previously. Once again we wish to respond to the article [DN June 11] captioned 'Asbestos in the workplace: A difficult legacy'. Typically all of these articles have one thing in common, they draw on the experience of western nations that utilized asbestos up to 1970s. The Asian consumer must understand first and foremost that the products manufactured utilizing asbestos in most parts of Asia including Sri Lanka are completely different to those made in the West. Primarily asbestos was used in friable products, that is products that which were used in the past could be sprayed in open air, for the purpose of insulation in the West. Such products were made up almost entirely of pure asbestos and furthermore mainly consisted of the blue variety. In complete contrast, in Asia, asbestos was primarily used in products such as roofing where no more than ten per cent of the finished product contains asbestos and mainly the Chrysotile (white) variety. Due to the misuse of asbestos in the west many cases arose of workers in building sites contacting lung related diseases. Furthermore due to the long latency of diseases such as mesothelioma the world will continue to experience deaths even today although the inappropriate use of this fiber was halted in the 1970s by various Governments. We would like to add here that mesothelioma is caused solely by blue fiber and as such is irrelevant to Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, first and foremost, there have been no cases of mesothelioma. This is obviously because friable products that is products sprayed for the purpose of insulation have never been manufactured here. Furthermore, drawing on the experience in the West, certain varieties of asbestos were banned here as well with only white asbestos being used here in the present day. The writer cites that despite the known health risks of asbestos - some people may still be working with materials whose impact may only become apparent many years from now. Voluminous research has been done on chrysotie (white) fiber to illustrate that contrary to what the writer is assuming, this variety in fact is quite safe. Any fiber in the air if breathed beyond tolerance limits is harmful to the human lung. As long as it is used under safe working conditions, it cannot cause harm to those who work with it. And research has demonstrated that chrysotile fiber is actually cleaned up by the lung's own defense mechanism. Furthermore, as the writer himself has stated, the ILO Asbestos Convention has imposed a ban on only certain types of asbestos, permitting the controlled use of white fiber. The industry has matured because of the health risks suffered by workers in the West, which is lasting even till present day. Needless to say that 60 countries including modern industrialized nations such as USA, Russia, India, Japan, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Thailand etc., continue to take advantage of white fiber's unique properties. In Sri Lanka, all asbestos material is received in sealed bags in containerized shipments. The raw material is also moisturized to eliminate the fiber's movement in case of bags breaking in transit. Asbestos bags are opened inside a closed production system in the plant without any human contact. Thereafter, it is mixed with water and cement nullifying any possibility of the fibres becoming airborne. And in the end-product, it is en-capsulated with cement and moisture, no longer capable of breaking free to the open air. As a further safety measure and in keeping with the practice in other asbestos cement plants, dust levels are tested frequently, to ensure that they are within acceptable norms. The asbestos cement industry in Sri Lanka uses the magic mineral in the manufacture of roofing sheets with responsibility and hindsight. It keeps itself updated on all new technological developments and strives to deliver a consumer safe product manufactured in a safe working environment. It meets regularly and participates in international conferences to learn as much as it can about the magic mineral and how it can serve the needs of mankind without any detrimental effect on health for many years to come. A. Y. S. GNANAM - Chairman, Chrysotile Asbestos Cement Products, Manufacturers Association Commercialisation of Borobudur A Reuter report carries the disturbing news that Indonesia's Borobudur, one of the Buddhist World's holiest places and UNESCO world heritage site is to lose its sanctity, serenity and the religious atmosphere with the plan to put up shopping malls within its precinct to sell consumer goods to visitors. This holy place being located in a non-Buddhist country, the authorities in their proposal to make it a trade-centre wouldn't have been mindful of the historical, cultural, religious and sentimental values the Buddhists all over the World attach to it. It is therefore, hoped that our Ministries of Buddhasasana and the Cultural and Heritage Affairs would request the Indonesian government to desist from commercialising Borobudur Temple and preserve and maintain it in its pristine condition. U. M. G. GOONETILLEKE - Polgasowita The telephone bills have begun to come in with a vengeance. Customers were made to understand that the delay (now nearly five and half months) was due to a new billing system being introduced. Personally I see no change in the bill format now being received as it is the same as the bill for December 2003 which comprised three sheets (two with superfluous details). A recent issue of the Daily News published a Sri Lanka Telecom report viz: that USD 20 million has been spent so far on the new system. This is a princely sum for a new billing system which is no different to the December bill format comprising three sheets. What a waste of stationery, time and money. Certainly not the Telecom personnel funds. This would mean that some bright 'expert' of the Telecom Dept. created an unwanted delay and inconvenience to its customers causing severe financial constraints to the customers as well as the Telecom Dept. Mode of payment for the 'new' bills received is the same as that for the December 2003 bill viz: a. Presentation of bill for payment b. Customers details viz: - name and few other details are fed into a computer after which a computerised receipt with these same details, is issued. The receipt is nothing but a repetition of the bill presented. This process takes at least five minutes which is an absolute waste of customer's time and a waste of stationery for a receipt. Stationery, time and money could be saved if the Telecom Dept. would follow the method of payment by the Ceylon Electricity Board. Here, the bill has a detachable receipt which is receipted by the cash machine and said receipt detached for the customer and all this takes a couple of seconds. Hope the Telecom Dept. would see the sensibility of the CEB system. Customers are not interested in a breakdown of debits. The current debit and arrears will suffice as the customer knows all these debits have to be paid at some stage. If a breakdown of payments is wanted the Telecom Dept. has provision for this. So why waste time, stationery and money. N.B. MELVILLE PERERA - Kohuwala The advertisement made by Chief Executive Officer on behalf of Sri Lanka Telecom tells us of a paradigm shift in billing system. Does the so-called shift occur at the ground level of SLT? Customers can observe and experience, the old obsolete paradigm at billing payment counters, where officers in front of the computers work with their hands and heads instead of using the advanced facilities of computers creating long queue as well as inconvenience to the customers. The way of deployment of officers to tackle the payment of bills too need paradigm shift emphasising the customer care. The awards awarded to SLT, again shown in full pages of newspapers will not shine, if shining faces of customers vanish at counters, the grass root level of SLT. GODWIN KODITUWAKKU - Maharagama |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
