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TODAY the main requirement for children is higher education and this
helps overcome challenges and find new discoveries of technology in
universities and other education centres for students in Colombo and
other main cities.
The Uva Wellassa University is a valuable gift granted by the
Government for the students in Uva, a less developed area. Sixty acres
of tea land from Glen Alpin Estate has been acquired by the Government
and now the University is under construction.
This is situated at Badulla - Batticaloa (Route number A-5) main road
on the top of a beautiful mountain range.
You can see the beautiful sight of this complex when you are in
Badulla town.
The University Grants Commission under the Ministry of Higher
Education is the client of this project. Consultancy services, designing
of plans, supervision and construction entrusted to Central Engineering
Consultancy Bureau, the major construction bureau of Sri Lanka under the
Ministry of Mahaweli Development.
The full expenditure will be over Rs 15,000 million. The Uva Wellassa
University was established under the Gazette extraordinary No. 1395/15
dated June 01, 2005.
First and second batch students are educated with all privileges
under academic staff of professors and lecturers. At present, there are
five Faculties in the University namely Animal Science, Computer Science
and Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management, Export Agriculture,
Science and Technology. Several new courses will be started according to
the needs of the area.
Stage I of this project is almost completed now. The Faculty of
Administration Building is the major part of this campus. This has been
constructed according to new architectural methods.
There are three blocks of lecture halls, a modern computer lab, three
storeyed and four storeyed buildings with many facilities. Two of them
are occupied by the students of 1st and 2nd batches. There is also a
well equipped canteen and dining hall for students.
The playground is being constructed according to the requirements of
current sports activities such as 100 m. and 200 m. track for athletics,
a Volleyball Court, etc. Work of the internal roadway of the University
Complex is under progress at present under the supervision and guidance
of the CECB engineering staff.
Steps have been taken to complete more work under Stage II. The main
buildings are an auditorium, a library, indoor sports recreation hall,
pavillion, Post Graduate Institute, Vice Chancellor’s bungalow, senior
staff quarters and meditation park, etc.
This University will be a precious gem to Uva Wellassa students and
residents.
ANURA JAYAWEERA –
Badulla
IN THE DAILY NEWS of October 18 (Thursday), in the Citizen’s Mail
column was a letter captioned ‘Moratuwa Traffic Police’ with a
photograph of a constable in uniform riding a police motorcycle. This
letter had been written by a ‘C.C’, Mount-lavinia.
In this, he mentions three incidents - Professor Tissa Kariyawasam’s
incident, an unpleasant incident which he had to face at the hands of
the OIC and thirdly he says “This was the same police station where
Eardley Perera was assaulted some years ago”.
I do not know anything about the first two incidents, but I was the
Headquarters Inspector, Moratuwa Police on the Christmas Day when
Eardley Perera’s incident took place.
This incident took place on December 25, 1975 - 32 years back. “It is
very wrong to say that this was the police station where Eardley Perera
was assaulted by a gang of police officers.”
What happened on that day was, Eardley Perera’s younger brother Anton
and Lloyd Peiris and some others went for a Christmas lunch to a
doctor’s house at Lunawa. Plenty of liquor was available at this place.
After sometime, a telephone call was received at the police station
informing of a disturbance at the doctor’s house.
The mobile party consisting of one sergeant and three police
constables were sent to look into this incident. At the doctor’s
residence, one of the men who had been drinking, dealt a blow with a
wooden plank on P.C. Milton’s head, who was on the mobile party, causing
a bleeding injury.
All these people who were drinking and creating disturbances, were
brought to the police station, and Eardley hearing that his brother had
been brought, he too came to the police station.
At the police station, there had been an argument between Eardley
Perera and telephone operator Wickramasinghe, and in the course of this
argument, Eardley Perera had slapped the telephone operator, and in
return Wickramasinghe had assaulted him.
This case was inquired into by me, and all I.B. extracts were
forwarded to Attorney-General for filing.
Subsequently the Attorney-General filed plaint in District Court,
Colombo and the accused were found guilty and sentenced to jail. The
accused who were sentenced to jail, appealed against this sentence, and
they were acquitted of all charges in the appeal courts and all of them
were given their jobs back.
These are the true facts of the case regarding Eardley Perera.
I functioned as HQI Moratuwa till the end of 1977 when I was
transferred out for general orders. If the police men who were working
with me were at fault, the Department would not have kept me so long at
Moratuwa.
ANANDA JAYASENA, Snr. Suptd. Police (Retd.) –
Boralesgamuwa
It is indeed strange for B. A. Ariyatilake (DN Oct. 4) to take a
swipe at all Abrahamic religions and belief in God when the original
issue in question was about astrology. Avoiding issues does not create a
healthy dialogue.
Instead of asking others about their faith and belief and mocking at
them, Ariyatilake should have taken the courage to explain why the
tsunami victims died (including little children) according to his faith
instead of expecting someone else to respond to his question to his
satisfaction.
Since Ariyatilake had misunderstood and misrepresented the concept of
Almighty God and also His Mercy, let me share both the issues with my
layman’s knowledge. I could not physically show that God exists. I could
not physically show and explain why humans have emotions, but we know
they exist.
God cannot be proved in the same way you prove the existence of a
physical object. This is simply because God is not a physical object.
Any physical object is subject to your five senses.
But I do see a perfect order in this universe. The sun shines
everyday with precise regularity, rain comes down to help quench our
thirst and help plants to grow and help feed us.
We see our body functions with perfect precision and harmony. We have
very little control as to how our heart beats, the way the blood flows,
or how a morsel of food goes down the throat, or breathing in and out,
or how a fetus grows within a mother’s womb.
In our physical world, we see all that and we have very little
control. For some people all things mentioned just happened by a freak
of nature. For me, it is the work of Almighty Creator - a power no
limited physical senses of ours can comprehend totally.
Now that we briefly understand what God means from the standpoint of
my belief, let me explain the question as to why we experience pain and
suffering in this world.
Sickness, old age and death are part of life so is natural
calamities. There are storms, earthquakes, floods, draught and famine.
We see people commit sins, show disloyalty, unfaithfulness, greed and
insincerity. We see people commit rape, murder; they fight and make
wars. We know all these and many more problems. These are caused by
human beings and there are natural disasters.
But we also know that this is not the whole story. Besides all these
negative things, we also see beauty, health, prosperity, life, birth,
wisdom, intelligence, growth and progress. We also see goodness among
people, faith, sincerity, charity, love and the spirit of sacrifice. We
also see a lot of virtue and piety.
It is wrong to see one side of the coin and not to see the other
side. Anyone who concentrates on one aspect of the creation and denies
or ignores the other side is partially true and partial truths are no
truth at all.
It is also a fact that the element of good is more in the creation
than the element of evil. We all see that there are more people who are
healthy than those who are sick. There are more who eat well than those
who starve. We also notice that fewer people die of natural calamities.
Even then, what we perceive as bad might be a lesson to be good.
Death teaches us to be appreciative of our lives and correct our bad
ways. Sickness makes us appreciate our health and stay healthy. The
tsunami taught Sri Lankans to be united in times of tragic calamity and
make them think about their own brief existence. If people are immortal,
well, we can imagine the pandemonium it will create on Earth.
And finally, Merciful God says in the Holy Qur’an (35:45): “If Allah
were to punish people according to what they deserve, He would not leave
on the back of the (earth) a single living creature: but He gives them
respite for a stated Term: when their Term expires, verily Allah has in
His sight all His servants.”
TUAN RIZA RASSOOL –
USA
I am a native of Madulkele, Nellimale Watte and I am employed in
Colombo as a labourer. Thanks to my remittance out of my meagre
earnings, my family hearth is kept burning. Apart from this, in times of
emergency, I remit whatever funds possible to my ailing and elderly
mother who is a widow and now the head of our family.
In response to an urgent call from my mother to remit whatever money
I could for an emergency (sickness of my mother), I sent a money order
for Rs. 4,000 on October 4, 2007 which I had to raise amidst grave
difficulties out of my hard earned money of course shedding my sweat in
intense heat.
Up to the time of writing this at 11.30 a.m. on October 12 my mother
- the beneficiary who has been looking forward to this remittance has
not received it. (8 long days for the remittance to cross a radius
inland).
The distance is less than 150 Km which could have been covered just
in a matter of four hours had I opted to travel overland. The main
reason I could not do so was my pressing commitments at my duty station.
When my employer inquired into this inordinate delay as my situation
at home was becoming very grave, he (named Mr. Joachin) went out of his
way taking pity on me and my family’s predicament and took the trouble
to call the Post Master at Madulkele Post Office.
A woman (according to my boss) who answered the phone at the other
end (TP. 081 2363251) seemed nonchalant and defiant and spoke in a
threatening manner.
She blamed the Post Master (rather Mistress) at Wolfendhal Street
Post Office (sub-post office) for making a mess of the Money Order
Advice (The Post Mistress at the Madulkele Post Office erroneously
claimed that the Post Mistress at the sub-post office at Wolfendhal
Street had written the advice spelling the name of the Post Office
(beneficiary’s end) as Madulgala instead of the correct destination name
as Madulkele.
My boss took the trouble again to rush to the Wolfendhal Street
sub-post office to clarify the claim made by the Post Mistress at
Madulkele. The Post Mistress here produced proof (photostat) annexed to
lend credence to her claim that the lapse was not on her part and in
order to make clarification, she tried to contact the Madulkele Post
Mistress but in vain.
The Wolfendhal Street Post Mistress could be reached on 4960493.
I have every reason to presume that something is fishy somewhere in
the postal (remittance) system probably at the destination point (Madulkele).
When my boss tried to get through to Madulkele Post Office, he is now
told that the money order could be issued (paid) to the beneficiary.
One wonders if there is any jugglery taking place in the postal
(remittance) system to defraud the hard-earned money of those opting to
avail themselves of this vitally important public service.
If my mother had not complained and if I had not bothered to ask my
boss had not condescended to come to my assistance (or our family’s
predicament) what could have been the fate of the sum of Rs. 4,000.
Probably it would have vanished into thin air without any trace.
I request in the interests of all members of the general public who
repose their trust and confidence in the post system to hold a top level
inquiry into this sad episode so as to punish the miscreant whoever he
or she may be.
R. SIVAKUMAR -
Colombo 13
In the sixties there was a Ferguson Directory that catalogued tea,
rubber and coconut plantations. It provided a lot of information in
relation to commerce.
With the expansion of the economy, it would have been impossible to
catalogue information connected with commerce, however the catalogue of
plantations would have remained constant or at least declined. So it is
time that a database be created to deal with the problem of land
utilisation. With modern technologies this can be achieved without much
cost and it is likely that is being done already.
Also it is time that marginal tea and rubber lands be brought under
the plough and made arable systematically. These could be cultivated as
co-operatives in 100 or more acre blocks. This is imperative for the day
when there is going to be famine and we must be geared to this
contingency.
ZAMA ABESIRI
National Service in Sri Lanka is not a bad idea. To make it effective
and beneficial to the entire nation, the following pre-conditions should
be established first:
1). Law and order should be maintained in the country strictly
without any favouritism.
2) Criminals including the politicians up to the highest level who
commit crimes should be punished.
3) Bribery and corruptions should be eradicated from public
institutions.
4) Improvements to public education should be made in order to
eliminate private tutories and academies mushrooming all over the island
exploiting poor schoolchildren.
ARIYADASA YAPA
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