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| Tuesday, 19 October 2004 |
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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.
According to the third Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (2003), the annual estimated number of persons transported across international boundaries varies from 800,000 to 900,000. These are men, women and children who are forced to work in low paying unsafe jobs. Some are employed in the sex trade, domestic work and unhealthy activities. It is unfortunate for a person to be unable to find a decent job in ones own country. Not only the well educated, the skilled as well as the unskilled ones too are drawn to the trap of seeking jobs abroad. Some consider going overseas as the only solution to end their problems. Attractive financial benefits, living conditions and holiday trips are promised by the recruiters to these victims while in friendly disguise they levy heavy fees for making travel arrangements. These victims find the necessary money by taking loans with exorbitant interest rates, forfeiting their only property or the lifetime savings of their parents. They will do everything possible to get rid of the grinding poverty in their own birth country. But what happens when they reach the promised land is quite unbelievable. Every promise becomes a mirage or a colourful rainbow. The alien contacts or the friendly agents would demand additional fees, rarely fulfil the promised tasks and often drive these victims to brothels, forced labour and slavery. Women who had been promised jobs as waitresses, nannies or domestics find themselves trapped in brothels (Lancet 2003). These victims are all alone and they are unable to offer resistance. Their travel documents are seized by the new employers, they can't understand the alien language, they make mistakes, they are beaten. For some, the heaven has become a hell within such a short time. No country is immune to the atrocities of salvery trade within the spreading shores of the open economy. Children are trafficked in Central and South America and West and Central Africa for exploitation as domestic servants, (International Labour Office Report 2003). There are indeed laws and regulations to prevent human trafficking. But these have never been successful in the implementation side. There have been several conventions too. Respective Governments of every country, international and national organizations show interest in curbing this inhuman exploitation. An appropriate remedial measure should be taken to ensure gainful decent employment opportunities for the economically deprived population. This would need pragmatic economic policy planning and implementation endeavours of any state. Dr. S. Tennakoon, Kelaniya I endorse the contents of the recent letter on the above subject. I too being a resident of the Mattegoda Housing Scheme has had countless running battles with the CEB breakdown authorities on the phone, that too, after many efforts on the redial button of my phone. The reason being that whenever there is a breakdown of supply the phone gives an engaged tone. (Whether on purpose or not we never know). The most common excuse the authorities give when eventually they are contacted are cutting of branches of trees (CEB calls the wayleaves), fallen posts or wires. Taking the frequencies of the cutting of trees then Mattegoda should by now be a desert which experiences heavy rains. What a phenomenon! Further the engineers concerned should take full responsibility for this sad state of affairs. Whenever Mattegoda experiences showers of rain invariably the power goes off. Here in the shopping complex's sale of candles play a prominent part in their daily turnover. Maybe there is a problem in the electrical supply equipment that contributes to these frequent breakdowns, I guess this should be rectified by the so-called engineers. I sincerely hope that these letters would meet the eyes of the higher authorities at the CEB and hope they would look into this perpetual nuisance we are faced with and arrange to replace the faulty equipment or the engineers, so that we too could enjoy uninterrupted supply of electricity as enjoyed by those in Colombo who pay the same rates as we do. D.C, Polgasowita It is with pleasure that I notice the increased interest being given in regard to a ferry service to India. We all know that sometime back a luxury vessel was put into service on a similar route with much publicity but alas this resulted in a dismal failure which was due to the high ticket fare - I believe which was nearly as high as the airline ticket to Madras which amount the low-income earner could never afford. After all, they need a holiday or need to visit relatives in India and so do some who would be going on pilgrimage to Buddhagaya. Now if we are trying to get back to business along those lines they had better quit now before they face losses. This time I would strongly advise them to give us a much more realistic fare over the 300 km odd. To give them a fair idea of the amount would be to kindly request them to consider the fare that we paid between Thalaimannar Pier and Rameswaram, a distance of about 30 km. and a cost of Sri Lankan Rs. 100.00 one-way. So it would be a fare estimate to charge Sri Lankan Rs. 1,000.00 one way but we still haven't taken into account another vital factor, boredom. From my own personal experience having travelled to India half-a-dozen times, I can tell you after my first trip, the journey over the water is pretty boring. Just think about the three to four hours in the open sea with nothing but water all around you, and that was just 20km, then consider the distance of 300km. The sheer boredom will divert all you passengers back to the airlines. (Moral - Pay a few extra bucks and Hey Presto - No boredom/time-wasted). Of course now the fare will have to be halved and we arrive at the nice round figure of Sri Lankan Rs. 500.00 one-way. True we will have to sacrifice 'luxury' at least for the start - who wants luxury anyway. The third important factor is 'safety'. The fear of safety is tolerated when the time (period of risk) involved is short eg. the 50 minutes flight to Madras. It is still okay when the period of risk is 4 to 5 hours when compared with the cost of the ticket eg. Talaimannar-Rameswaram sailing time. Well the period of risk is certainly much higher considering Colombo-Cochin isn't it. Think it will be worth the fair of Sri Lanka Rs. 500.000. That's it then, over to you authorities. Don't make the same mistakes again. One more word about the internal security of India. Well, I am sure the increased influx of foreigners would only contribute much to the security conscious of the Indian people as a whole. Thus the various security officials would be better knowledgeable about terrorists and peacemakers. And finally, I still hope and pray that the Talaimannar-Rameshwaram route will open up again soon with its most suitable fare and also the fleet of ferry boats will increase and even Hovercraft rides will be a daily routine. M. H. S. ABDUL MAJEED, Colombo 9 The way the agitation has been going on unabated for a salary increase to the Public Servants and also the promises given by the Government that a substantial increase would be granted to them in the forthcoming Budget, any outsider would think that all Sri Lankans are Public Servants. The Public Servants do not consist even two per cent of the total population, but yet they clamour for more, but what about the others, the millions of poor people who lead a hand to mouth existence without any steady income, who do not have even one square meal a day, and also the much maligned pensioners who are made to struggle for survival with a meagre pension, inspite of the fact giving half of their lives in the service of the nation, they also feel the pinch of the spiralling cost of living. Each time a salary increase is granted to the public servants, the pensioners too are given a pittance of a few hundred rupees and are expected to survive with it, while others enjoy the benefits of enhanced salaries, the pensioners have to grin and bear with such small mercies. The prices of everything is common to all, no one is paying less or more, the poor, just because they are poor are not given any subsidy, so what the authorities should do, is to bring down the prices of essential food items forthwith, without pampering the public servants who resort to strike action even at a drop of a hat, so that everyone irrespective of one's profession will enjoy a comfortable existence. U.N. NANAYAKKARA, Gampaha Never mind that the exercise in one way traffic in the city proved to be a failure. The main point is that they tried something out of the ordinary. Desperate situations warrant desperate measures, and success is built on pillars of failure. In the meantime, I suggest that the Police try and do the little things right. For example, like training and disciplining pedestrians. Currently pedestrians are above traffic laws, thought they cause many of the avoidable accidents on the roads today. Then what about the cyclists? Are they exempt from traffic laws too? How about the Three-wheel Terrors of the Tarmac? And the Bulldozing Buses of the Boulevards? If the Police can instill a measure of discipline in three-wheelers and buses, the rest of the motoring public will bless them. Buses are the biggest hindrance to the smooth flow of traffic as they stop anywhere without warning and on the middle of the road to pick up and drop passengers. So, while the police deliberate newer methods to ease the traffic congestion on our roads, the causes of which make a subject for a thesis, I suggest that they pay some attention to the nitty gritty, which will surely yield dividends. MONTE HOLSINGER, Colombo 3 Employees - Provident Fund, Trust Fund, Pensions The EPF Secretariat is housed at 356, Galle Road, Kollupitiya, Colombo 3. I have been there a number of times to assist helpless persons to obtain their EPF refunds. There is a notice prominently displayed in English and Sinhala which states: Frequent inquiries is a terrible disturbance.... Fair enough, I fully agree. There should also be a few more notices such as, Unwanted delays cause chaotic conditions and are hot beds of corruption... Be courteous to the public, civility cost nothing. The last notice in particular to the rank and file, as the officials and higher ups, some of whom are extremely busy, are yet able to spare a few minutes to a member of the public, who wishes to meet them. I went there in June 2003 in regard to a case of refund of EPF. I explained the case to the Commissioner of Labour in charge and the inordinate delay. He was frank enough to tell me that applications before the year 2000 were not available, he had been employed on contract and he could assist only if a new application was made on Form K (white) (Note Form K in pink as used by those leaving Sri Lanka under the Indo-Ceylon Agreement). In fact, he went to the extent of requesting that a fresh application with all the required annexures be posted directly to him by name and the refund could be had in a week's time. There was no alternative and as requested the application with the annexures were sent by registered post in June 2003. The same story that started earlier began all over again, apparently without the knowledge of the C.L. in charge. In this context, I want to pinpoint the following which are of concern to the Tamils: There is no justification whatsoever and in fact it is a violation of the Official Language Law and Fundamental Rights as embodied in the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to insist on Affidavits in Sinhala only, merely because departments do not have employees who are familiar with the Tamil or English languages. With regret and great reluctance, I want to make this comment. The persons employed in Government departments know only Sinhala and authorities have failed to employ persons proficient in the Tamil language as well as Sinhala/Tamil translators. Letters and forms from the Pensions, ETF and EPF departments are exclusively in Sinhala and cause considerable hardship, annoyance, frustration and unnecessary expenditure to those who know only Tamil. These state of affairs continue because of the indifference of Tamil speaking politicians outside the North and East to the implementation of the Official Language Law and lack of courtesy in Government departments to the Tamil speaking public. In the year 2001, 14 Divisional Secretariats were declared by Presidential fiat for implementing Sinhala and Tamil as languages of administration. They are Bandarawela, Ella, Haldumulla, Hali-ela, Haputale, Meegahakiwula, Passara, Ambagamuwa, Hanguranketa, Kotmale, Nuwara Eliya, Walapane, Colombo and Thimbirigasyaya. What is the outcome? Only a survey by an independent body will reveal. S. THAMBYRAJAH, Colombo 3 |
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