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| Wednesday, 18 August 2004 |
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Custodian of foreign gifts to the country An important matter of protocol has arisen out of former Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Wijesekera's statement to parliament in reply to the allegation that millions of rupees worth of equipment given by the South Korean Government has not been returned or the money properly accounted for. From this, it is evident that this money has been channelled through the Government and not a gift to this minister. That being the case, how could he account for this by saying that these were given to departments under him for official use. If that be the case, the question arises whether these have been brought on charge in their inventories, and if so, should not the Auditor General be asked, verify and then report to Parliament? Be that as it may, who is the custodian of gifts presented by foreign Governments by their heads of State or ministers in an official capacity - not personal gifts. Should not the custody of such gifts be the property of the State. If I remember right, Winston Churchill in his Autobiography, has stated that they belong to the Crown and he had not kept them as personal property. Taking into consideration former minister Mahinda Wijesekera's statement, the Government having regard to the country's self repect should lay down a rule in this regard which would also have public approval. Human greed is universal; it is a matter of degree. In the present circumstances, where ministers are reluctant to vacate Government residencies or return vehicles when Governments change, there is likelihood of this being put in back-burner. Whether such a rule is adhered to or not, it should be laid down for the sake of the country's dignity and self respect. TISSA AMARASEKERA - Electricity for the whole country The dream of every Government that comes into power is to provide electricity to all the households in the country. It was stated by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) that only 60 per cent of the population have access to electricity for their home needs and the rest either cannot be supplied with the necessary supply of electricity due to inability to produce more energy or/and the inability to stretch further its present network of grid lines due to financial constraints. The present output of energy is around 1900 or 2000 Mw with the combining of both hydro and thermal power. According to the predictions made in 2000 AD, the present output should have been 2300 MW. Our country does not have much options left for further large hydro reservoirs and to even consider such a proposition is ridiculous considering the highland terrain, need of land to settle ousted people and even the damage to the environment. An alternative could be the construction of large reservoirs as storage tanks in the lower reaches of the Kalu Ganga or the Kelani Ganga, where the water is not tapped for any major projects, but the water is allowed to flow to the sea. These storage systems are successfully being implemented in China and even England, yielding power outputs The Government's acceding to the proposal for a Coal Power Project is quite welcome. Even it is to be commenced in 2005 AD the completion and commissioning would be anticipated by 2010 AD, by that time the additional requests for Power too would be proportionally increased, which could be assessed to be about another 600 to 750 MW. This would mean the utilization of further thermal power to meet the increased demand. In this situation it is best to construct a further Coal Power Project with an output of at least 300 MW. The best option left to us is to go for Solar Power, which is the most reliable of renewable energy suited for our tropical country. It can be operated to provide single home systems, cluster home systems or as farms capturing the solar energy and converted to electrical energy and fed into the National Grid. Though this mode of obtaining energy is most reliable, the initial capital outlay is on the high side and the financial benefits to accrue take a longer period unlike in a small hydro power project. A few years back the Solar Power System was in the infantry and the cost was considered to be quite exorbitant, but now with modern techniques and mass production, the cost have come down to be very competitive and the durability and reliability are guaranteed. G. S. HEMARATNE - Pensioners and bungling bureaucrats In reader Pat Jayatilleke's letter 'Pensioners and bungling bureaucrats' DN Aug. 2 there occurs, inter alia, the following information:- "Here is another example of bungling. At the end of last year we were informed officially that from January, 2004, pension vouchers would not be posted; instead of which we were asked to fill them ourselves and submit them each month. Blank voucher forms were available in the Pensions Branch. Those who went there were given 12 each, sufficient for the whole year. Late callers were told that the latest instructions they had were to give three each. Later that too was stopped and it is back to the old system!" The above brain-child of the Pensions Department would have turned into a mess with considerable trouble to the pensioners, who are having one foot in the grave, had not the Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs intervened and stopped it, asking the Department to reintroduce the old 'modus operandi.' With regard to losses incurred by pensioners owing to various anomalies, there are two methods of payment. First to pay by examining each and every account and second to pay on a percentage basis. The Minister of PA and HA himself has said that the first method is very cumbersome owing to the large number of pensioners involved. In the case of pensioners, who are most senior, it may not be possible to pay them because of misplacement or loss or destruction of relevant files, registers and other records. Some Divisional Secretaries have asked them to produce birth certificates, appointment papers or affidavits. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. It is high time that the Pensions Department acts according to para III(b) of the Administrative Reforms Committee Report No.4 of Sept. 1987. This Committee headed by H.S. Wanasinghe and it recommends that the average percentage by which the salaries of public servants is revised be calculated and such percentage be applied for increase in the pensions. It had the foresight to know the calculation of pensions on an individual basis as what the Pensions Department doing is cumbersome. Geo. Perera - The Government has stepped up activity in giving jobs to thousands of unemployed graduates, promised to increase the salaries of Government servants at the next budget and given hope to AL and OL qualified to find employment for them without delay. Farmers have been assured of further help. All this has been given much publicity through TV and other media. What about the old pensioners who have been waiting patiently for relief? Have they been forgotten? Recently the Regional Secretariat gave out a form in which pensioners had to give many details regarding their periods of employment and places of work. This arrangement was not given any publicity and word got round from pensioner to pensioner. Many pensioners would have missed this information. Calling over at the Regional Secretariat later to find out what progress was being made I was told in an indifferent manner that the information was being processed. How long do we have to wait? Till Doomsday? There was information that pensioners in the Galle and Kalutara regions have received their pension arrears. What's happening in the other regions? Why cannot this work be attended to in a systematic way in all regions? The very old pensioners are utterly helpless. Some of them are incapable of filling the forms. Necessary documents have perished over the years. We plead to the President whose heart is with the helpless people to expedite the correction of the pension anomalies, so that these retired people will have at least a few years of relaxation and contentment in the sunset of their lives. SG - Baseline Road development project One of the maladies affecting the development of our country has been the inability of our politicians to arrive at firm decisions on crucial projects, or once done so, their propensity to display the white feather and go back on such decisions at the slightest objection raised by various groups or those with vested interests. This indecisiveness on the part of our politicians must be costing the country uncalculated billions due to the delays involved in commissioning cardinal development projects like Upper Kotmale Power Project, Norichcholai Coal Power Plant, KTN Expressway etc. BRDP (Stage III) seem to be the latest addition to this list. The Baseline Road Development Project was first conceived somewhere in the seventies, if my memory serves me right. Gigantic projects of this nature are taken up after meticulous feasibility studies, engineering surveys and planning that take up several years involving heavy expenditure. A final road tracing is decided upon after careful study of both economic and social aspects. It is therefore hoped that the present tracing must be the most technically feasible, economical and the one likely to create least social disruption by way of displacement of residents. The project was begun in the nineties and has now reached the final stage three, from Kirulapona to Maliban Junction, Ratmalana. If this section of the road is not completed soon the full potential of this urban arterial may not be realised, not to mention the escalation of costs. The properties of those displaced persons are not being acquired by the authorities for a song as it were. They are offered a handsome compensation package, over and above the prevailing market prices. So there is hardly anything to grudge. No one should be allowed to stand in the way of essential development projects implemented for the greater benefit of the population. Don't we remember that the entire town of Teldeniya was submerged under the Mahaweli Project? If anybody tries to stand in the way and hinder such important projects like BRDP, a firm decisions should be taken to remove them by force if necessary. In these things we should take a cue from the former Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore who by staying steadfastly to their development decisions and giving the implementing agencies full backing brought those countries to developed status within a short period of 30-40 years. P. G. A. Henry - The government is very concerned and is mobilising the resources at its command with the Prime Minister in charge to eradicate the menace of dengue. The Colombo Municipal Council too, with Dr. Kariyawasam is in a drive to improve the cleanliness in the city. He has even warned that failure to keep premises clean can result in the owners being prosecuted. I cannot say the same for the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council. They seem to be completely oblivious to the dangers of dengue. The drains along Stanley Tilakaratne Mawatha from the Nawala Road Junction all the way and beyond the turn off to Pelawatte Road is full of stagnant water. Further, there appears to be no coordination between the workers clearing the drains and the removal of the muck that is piled on the side of the road. There is such a long delay between these two tasks that the garbage ends up in the drain again. Nobody seems to know whether this work is the job of Aban's Environment Services or the Municipal Council. I cannot believe that such monumental in-efficiency exists with the M.C. What are the Council members doing. Don't they ever take a walk along the roads in the areas they are expected to represent. Instead I see that they are more concerned with mounting what appears to be a prancing horse in the centre of the round-about at the Nawala Road/Stanley Tilakaratne Mawatha junction. This busy junction needs traffic lights not a horse in the centre of it. The Council probably spent millions on the construction of the bus station on Old Kesbewa Road. It's an eye-sore today with walls covered with posters covering election campaigns, tuition classes, Karate classes, trade and obituary notices. This sort of advertising should never be permitted on public buildings. Anybody using such places for posters of any kind should be prosecuted, as done in Singapore. Oh for a city like that, no uncleared garbage, no blocked drains, no stray dogs, no jay-walkers, no beggars and where 'No Parking' means exactly that. NIHAL KARUNARATNE - |
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