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Opening the A9 highwayA case is being made by interested parties to open the A9 highway for the ostensible purpose of sending food and other humanitarian relief to the North. The Government sends via the sea route thousands of tons of food aid incurring much expenditure and running the risk of being targeted by the ruthless LTTE. The ICRC has declined to give cover to the ships transporting food and civilians as they do not want to displease the LTTE. The Government has clearly stated that they will open the highway, if two conditions could be met; one is that the Government soldiers manning the highway should not come under attack as they are simply providing security to the users of the highway. The other is that the LTTE should not impose any taxes on goods, vehicles or passengers using the highway. The LTTE and its mouthpiece - the TNA shedding crocodile tears over the plight of civilians in Jaffna have refused to give this guarantee. Further, the other bigwigs in the South who too clamour for opening the highway have also failed to get the LTTE to agree to these two condition. It is possible that they are too frightened to offend the LTTE and want to be in their good books for their own survival. I would earnestly request people like Prof. Sucharitha Gamlath, Dr. Wickramabahu Karuna- ratne, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Vajira Abeywardena to explain to the average citizen of this country why they do not want to persuade the LTTE to observe the two conditions laid down by the Government for the opening of the highway. As has been pointed out by many, the A9 is the quickest and safest way the LTTE can transport their cadres, ammunition, building materials etc. to the North; it is also the greatest source of revenue to the LTTE by way of illegal and arbitrary taxes now that foreign funding is drying up consequent to anti-terrorist activities of foreign Governments. It is also the route through which our soldiers become easy targets of the LTTE. It is my view that the said people who clamour for unconditional opening of the highway are doing so in order to weaken the defence of the Government and to strengthen the LTTE by allowing the imposition of taxes. If these are not traitorous acts, pray tell me what they are! DR. G. N. NANDIMITHRA - --------- Expatriates should pay entry feesIt was sad to read the laments of some expatriates in recent times regarding dual citizenship. (Reference DN Nov. 6) Let's face it. When the expatriates left this country for greener pastures and obtained the citizenship of other countries, despite the current philosophical arguments, made conscious decisions, either voluntarily or otherwise, to give up their rights and privileges to the mother country. It is no secret that there are instances where some expatriates who had left the country on scholarships regardless of the education they have had in this country, either private or public, thought it fit to stay on even without paying the respective bonds and deprive the country of valuable training opportunities. If expatriates now would like to return, it is nothing but fair to pay not only the $2000 but also any other monies owing to the country and go through expected procedures. We all know that anyone worthy of note can afford the said amount. Sri Lanka is an overpopulated country and expatriates needing to return should be able to contribute in some form, either in terms of skills or money, to the progress of the country. If not, on their entry, they would only burden the already overstrained health, accommodation, security and other infrastructure systems of this country and also add to its inflation. It is unlikely the expatriates who cannot afford the entry fee are able to bring the required amounts of foreign exchange to sustain their living in this country. It is my view that expatriates who cannot afford the payment, like in the case of anything else, should avoid the show and not whinge to bypass or moderate the entry requirements. JANAKI WIJEGUNASEKERA - ------- Response to a whingeing expatriateSri Lanka is a Democratic country where people are entitled to express their views on matters of national importance. I expressed my views on the issue of dual citizenship (DN Nov. 13). Anjalika Silva (DN Nov 18) advises me to obtain counselling for my anger and jealousy. Let the intelligent readers decide who needs counselling. Ms. Silva, I am an expatriate residing in Australia. I paid the stipulated fee and obtained dual citizenship for me and my family a few years back. I paid the fee without whingeing. I invite other expatriates who are interested in obtaining dual citizenship also to pay the fee and obtain it. After all it is not money that you give a politician or a Political party, it is for the country. Ms. Silva still hasn't got rid of the Sri Lankan habit of asking everything free having been in USA for 22 years. What a shame! You talk about the difficulties that expatriates have to face when they begin life in their new countries (DN Nov. 10). No one asked them to leave Sri Lanka. Some of them left Sri Lanka for studies or on scholarships, and got rooted after looking at the benefits they could receive. Some others went in different ways but again looking at the benefits. I accept that some of the expatriates play a vital role in the development of Sri Lanka but not all. There are selfish ones too. Any person who feels that the fee is high or unaffordable can carry on with the citizenship of their adopted country. They can still visit Sri Lanka and if necessary extend their stay after 30 days, on a payment of a fee smaller than the $ 2,000 that is required for the dual citizenship. In my view no patriotic person will whinge about this payment but will happily pay it and will continue their good work towards helping the country. Ms. Silva, please note that you cannot purchase dual citizenship like purchasing an air ticket. Any applicant must also show assets in Sri Lanka worth over 2.5 Million or how such person could be of benefit to Sri Lanka. There could be other conditions too to satisfy. Ms. Silva asks that the fee be reduced to Rs. 5,000 (DN Nov. 10). This is US$ 50 that a person may spend for a meal in a US restaurant. Ms. Silva, without asking it be reduced ask that it be given free for those who whinge about the payment and accept the equivalent as a donation from the patriotic persons who are ready to pay. HEMAL PERERA - ---------- Don't hesitate to payDuring the past few weeks I have been reading all the letters on the above subject. Many writers say the increased fee of Rs. 200,000 per family is reasonable while the others say it is unreasonably high. Some even suggest that it should be free of charge. I would like to highlight one point which has not been mentioned by any of the previous writers. A few years ago I obtained dual citizenship for my family including my wife and two children by paying Rs. 170,000. Since then we made over 25 individual trips to various countries using our newly acquired foreign passport. For all these trips the visa procedures were very simple, just the visa on arrival without any fee. Alternatively if we used the Sri Lankan passport for those trips, we have to make a minimum of two trips to the relevant embassy/consulate/HC and obtain entry visa after producing copies of various documents and paying a visa fee. The total cost of obtaining one such entry visa is equivalent to about Rs. 10,000. With some simple arithmetic I know that I have already recovered almost the full amount I spent to retain our Sri Lankan citizenship. My advice to all those who are reluctant to pay the fee of Rs. 200,000 is - please do not hesitate, just pay it and get the dual citizenship. D. KARUNARATNE - ---------- Double the feesI do not understand the fuss and whingeing about the payment for dual citizenship (DN Nov. 18). After having got all the benefits of free education etc these people go to another country for their own benefit. If they want to get back or retain their Sri Lankan citizenship they should be prepared to pay as they are applying for citizenship which is to their own benefit. In my opinion the fee should be doubled. PALITA ABEYWICKREMA - |
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