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POLICE OUTDONE BY ERRANT DRIVERS If the police want to minimise traffic congestions and reduce the number of accidents in this country, then I believe what is required from them is application, sincerity to the job and common sense. The police should correct the indiscipline of the three-wheeler drivers and the bus drivers who are the biggest traffic offenders in this country. Most three-wheeler drivers are a menace to the law-abiding drivers. Gone are the days when a retired person could drive a vehicle, park same in front of a bank or a government institution and go and pay his or her electricity bill or attend to a similar transaction or for that matter park his or her vehicle in Fort or Pettah without the services of a driver. It is a common sight to see hordes of three-wheelers parked at places which are meant for normal vehicles. This is despite there being separately allocated parking lots of them. They forcibly take all the parking that is allocated for other vehicles. Three-wheeler mafias operate in most Sri Lankan cities and towns. The moment a three-wheeler moves out of a public parking lot on hire, immediately another one is moved in by the mafia blocking any possibility of a legitimate person parking his or her vehicle. They immediately blockade that space for another one of their kind. As a result, the hapless civilian driver for no fault of his is force to hang around searching for a parking place. By this time, some traffic officers has moved in and taken his or her driving licence for parking on the road. The police officers at hand show a total blind eye to the predicament of the civilian driver. If police were to check the revenue licence and the insurance of three-wheelers and the buses I am sure that over 75% will not produce proper documentation. By such action, one is forced to believe that police officers are also a part and parcel of the mafia. Police take no action to ensure that three-wheelers are parked only in allocated three-wheeler parking lots. In countries where rule of law prevail, a taxi driver cannot wait at the same spot after dropping a customer. If they have to pick up that same customer then they have to wait at a parking lot where they have to pay for the waiting time or wait at a nearby allocated taxi stand. I just cannot understand why the police in Sri Lanka as in places like Singapore strictly adhere to such an arrangement. If three-wheelers are not allowed to park at every nook and corner, believe me traffic congestions can be greatly reduced in all cities of Sri Lanka. It is a common site on our roads that when a law-abiding person drives in one particular line and approach traffic lights at a junction, hordes of three- wheelers, overtaking all vehicles that are driving in that line and then coming to the top of the same line from both the right and the left side. As a result the whole area develops into a snarling traffic jam. Also let us take those huge belching buses which ply on our roads and are constant killers. I once pointed out to a very senior traffic officer about a situation at the turn off to Park Street ahead of Town Hall coming from Kollupitiya. He said he will see that something will be done about what I told him and that was all. What I noticed and told him was that many a bus approaching Town Hall along Dharmapala Mawatha, the bus driver from the elevation of his seat gets a birds eye view as to whether there is a police vehicle parked at a distance or not. If there is no such vehicle they just brush past the red lights. I also told him that what is necessary is to have a few traffic policemen hiding may be in those by lanes or behind those wayside 'Mara' trees to catch the offenders. He did not pay any attention to my suggestion and it is a day-to-day occurrence particularly between 7-9 a.m. down Dharmapala Mawatha. When the drivers of those huge buses, see a long line of traffic in the first two lanes in a carriage way for three lanes, they want to take the shortest possible lane. They are reluctant to get behind other vehicles. Thus, they would take the bus to the left lane which is meant for those vehicles turning to the left. In the process, they block all vehicles turning to the left. Also if a law- abiding driver is driving on the left, it is a common sight to see a massive bus coming at break neck speed and hooting the horn incessantly and virtually pushing that hapless driver off his lane in order to overtake. Sometimes the overtaking is done on the blind side by one bus and on the other side by another bus sandwiching the motorist. This is a daily occurrence on the highway to Katunayake Air Port. Often it is to stop at the next bus halt. The bus halt may be just 10-15 yards ahead but those errant bus drivers keep hooting the horn not having the patience to follow the vehicle ahead of him for those 10-15 yards. These incidents are totally ignored by traffic officers, and as a result, many an accident and congestion take place everywhere. Police high-ups travel with protection and comfort and are blind to traffic congestions because they are cleared by their officers. It is the ordinary driver who has to face the music. Senior traffic officers in-charge of traffic arrangements in cities do not pay attention to the difficulties of ordinary motorists other than to instruct their subordinates to collect a stipulated number of traffic cases or spot fines in a calendar month and it is the average civilian motorists and not the real offenders who top the list. C. V. JANZ - Wattala HAPPENINGS AT CHAPEL LANE, WELWATTE First Chapel Lane Wellawatte is a narrow 20 feet road extending to Mallika Lane which meets up with W. A. Silva Mawatha behind Methodist Church and has a student strength of about five hundred. This school is over 100 years. There were upto about a year ago not more than 15 houses on the left and another 15 on the right. The amenities provided were more than sufficient for the residents of these houses. Since about 1 year ago two blocks of flats (apartment complexes) of 6 storeys each have come up on the left side when entering Chapel Lane from Galle Road. Each floor comprises 4 flats making a total of 48 flats in both complexes. Recently it has been observed by the long-standing residents that another 3 apartment complexes are being constructed also comprising 6 floors each with 4 flats on each floor. These are being constructed on this narrow 20-foot road. The grievances of us residents is that the amenities meant for householders in approximately thirty houses with a total number of residents being around 100 persons, have now to be shared with another 200 to 300 persons thereby everyone having to suffer water restrictions, power fluctuations and blocked drainage systems not forgetting that ventilation too has now become a severe problem. Recently, a resident had applied to the authorities to have a plan approved for a six-floor project on a land opposite St. Peter's College which is in extent 45 perches with Galle road frontage of about 50 feet and with two other road frontages on either side. But was disappointed when approval was not granted, who in writing stated that maximum of four floors is allowable due to ventilation problems that may arise although this is not so. We fail to see the logic in granting the companies or persons who have built or in the process of building, permission by the authorities for these complexes or are laws governing the building of these complexes being circumvented. Therefore we earnestly appeal once again to the authorities to kindly investigate our grievances and grant us redress. W.R. 'YOU CAN'T SWIM UNLESS YOU GET INTO WATER' I use this title metaphorically, whilst replying an article (DN March 3) titled, 'The Man With the Corroding Kaduwa'. I cannot comprehend Afreeha Jawad's attitude to the two persons who were struggling to use their hard earned knowledge, however meagre it was, in an attempt to master the use of the 'Kaduwa'. At a time when the medium of instruction is the mother tongue and English has become a much neglected second language, I should say it's heartening to see people trying to converse even in their faultering English. Being a teacher of English, I always encourage my students to get down to it and speak the language if they wish to improve; so much so, that I ask them to get their English-speaking colleagues to speak to them in English. Tell them, I say, "If I err, by all means laugh, but please correct me". I consider it downright cruel to ridicule people who are trying hard to gain mastery of the language. Through experience I have realized that my advice has stood my students in good stead, whereby they are able to speak better English after a time. Learning a language is not learning grammar and writing alone. Practising the language is more important. It is people like A.J. who scare the youngsters from the practical side of learning. Do we ridicule a toddler for falling many a time in trying to master the art of walking? Do we laugh at foreigners, say the Koreans, Japanese or Chinese or for that matter Germans or Russians, when they converse in faltering English? Why use a different measure on our own people? If you shop in any of the Far Eastern countries or some European countries and ask for some item they don't have, they may answer 'No have' but the message is well communicated. A.J. must understand that "Those days of immaculate pronunciation, grammar and the rest of it" (to quote from the article) are things of the past. Only those following a course in the English Language at University level or a diploma course would be mindful of such. We come across mistakes in spelling and grammar, mispronunciations and the rest of it, on a daily basis in the newspapers, on T.V., in advertisements and even in teledramas, which wield a greater influence on those struggling to learn the language. It is not that these mistakes should be condoned, but our aim should be to do our best to correct them, not ridicule them. The latter part of A.J's article is not so much on English, as on etiquette and table manners, may be with a tinge of sarcasm, - which of course can be easily corrected through example. We live in changing times, and let's all contribute in whatever way we can to put things right instead of ridiculing others on their shortcomings. NINETTE FERNANDO - Moratuwa |
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