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The measures suggested under the proposed law will be defective and
ineffective because there are more stray dogs, with no one responsible
for the dogs than owned by owners.
Also you cannot hold any one responsible unless there is a mechanism
to register the ownership of the dogs properly with numbers or any other
mechanism to pinpoint responsibility of the ownership. Also you will be
looking for ownership only after being bitten by a dog and the damage is
done.
Who will be in such sound of mind when bitten by a dog to look into
the identity of the dog when screaming in pain and agony wanting to go
to a hospital in a hurry.
Also, all who are owners of dogs are not financially sound to pay
compensation to victims. Moreover, it will have to go through a legal
process taking a long time.
Once a stray dog bites someone in a place not familiar to the victim,
who will claim ownership of a dog? Please visit the rear side of Hotel
Buhary on K. D. David Mawatha, Maradana, Colombo 10 to see how many
stray dogs are feeding on the hotel's waste and how many strangers were
bitten by dogs there.
I think such legislation is a futile attempt and is just going to
remain only on paper. Let those who care for dogs more than humans, come
out with some practical, meaningful, less cumbersome procedures to
reduce the dog menace.
RILA
I am happy to note that the Department of Inland Revenue is
organising seminars on 'Tax awareness programme', in important towns.
Tax collection plays a major role in the budgetary collection giving the
following benefits:
(i) Control of inflation
(ii) Allocation of funds for important projects
(iii) Stimulate economy growth
(iv) Maintain equal distribution of income and wealth of the people
(v) Render better services to the poor people (medical etc.)
I quote below the following additional steps to be taken by the
Department of Inland Revenue, to increase revenue collections.
Trade chambers - It is better to have monthly meetings with
recognised trade chambers, with the view to settling problems envisaged
by the taxpayers. Trade chambers also act as promoters of tax
collections;
Positive thinking - The advertisements that appear in the media show
only a negative thinking for e.g.: Words such as 'Revenue officers are
watching you, is this money after the payment of taxes' are not very
impressive.
It is better to tell the good aspects of tax collections, so that
people could be encouraged to pay their taxes; Monitoring of tax files -
Opening more and more tax files does not serve any purpose.
Files should be properly monitored and tax queries are settled within
a short time for e.g.; for the Year of Assessment 2004/05, finality
should reach on or before March 31, 2006. This will help the people to
clarify any doubts which is fresh in their minds and also assist for a
better programme in the future; New Companies Act - In accordance with
the new Companies Act, I observe more companies are being formed.
Definitely every new company that is formed (private or public)
should have a tax file. Utilising the information gathered from the
Registrar of Companies, the Department should investigate as to whether
proper tax files are maintained by all companies.
Inspection - It is better to send a team of inspectors regularly to
every trade centre to check whether the tax payments are up to date.
They should check even the Provincial Council tax payments.
It should be noted that a company should have a Provincial Council
tax file, Income tax file and VAT file, in accordance with the limits of
turn over and net income. There cannot be any company without having
these commitments. Therefore, inspectors should verify from time to time
whether tax payments are updated.
Disguised income - It should be noted that there are several trade
organisations who conveniently avoid tax payments because they do not
issue receipts for e.g.; consider an eating house, small boutiques -
since there are no receipts issued, they could very well suppress the
income.
Other categories of persons are professionals - dance, music
teachers, other tutors, food suppliers etc. Nowadays in every town,
there are suppliers of meals on wheels and they have a considerable
market amongst the working class.
Similarly, private bus owners' actual income cannot be verified in
the absence of documents. So, it is better to have a programme to bring
all these disguise earners into our tax net.
In India, there was a regulation that any payment more than Rs.
50,000 should be made by cheque only. This step reduces the velocity of
circulation of money and also helps the authorities to identify the
income earners. We have to resort some method to assist verification of
income;
Culture - It is better to develop a culture in the people's mind that
the payment of taxes is a service to the nation.
Those who pay their due taxes only could be called patriotic and
those who evade taxes are to be called traitors; I consider it necessary
to mention here, in 1970s in Nigeria under the military regime, every
person had to carry with them the latest 'tax paid card' (Sri Lankans
carry the National Identity Card only) in the event of failure, they
face the danger of being shot to death. It should be understood that
several developed countries had realised the importance of tax
collection and it is high time for us to give importance to this fact.
S. R. Balachandran,
The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka
The Central Mail Exchange in Colombo isnot only the nerve centre of
the mail services but also the nerve centre of corruption in the Postal
Department.
In the past, when the employees were disciplined and the officers
handling the administration were competent and knew the rules, overtime
quotas and limits were approved annually. But since 1995, that has not
been done. The workload has come down and the staff requirements are
less but overtime is incurred as prior to 1990 without the approval of
the higher authorities. This is robbery.
Employees do not report for work on Saturdays. Their absence is not
felt as there is no work. The staff is listed as a matter of routine.
Though they do not report for work on Saturdays, their presence is
marked on Mondays and the Saturday allowance is claimed.
That has the backing of those who deal with attendance registers for
which they are looked after. The superiors are compelled to turn a blind
eye to such dishonesty and robbing the Government as even the Ministry
does not act against the employees.
A large number of employees claim overtime without being at work.
Employees on rotational duties leave three to four hours early pending
the arrival of the successor. The result is that work is affected.
The monthly overtime expenditure in the Central Mail Exchange is
about Rs. 15 - 16 million when the amount can be reduced by fifty per
cent.
The Department claims that the services are run at a loss. Postage is
increased to cover up such unwarranted expenditure.
The malpractices should be stopped without increasing postage and
bringing the Government to disrepute.
W. K. GUNAWARDENA,
Dehiwela
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