The Security Forces having entered the Madhu Shrine without causing
serious damage to the church is exemplary.
Many Catholics over here in Europe and the clergy have been relieved
of worry and anxiety.
We are a happy lot. Strange enough? The LTTE's withdrawal from the
church has been timely too. The role of the Bishop of Mannar is of
paramount importance now. Moving the statue back to the Madhu Church is
now vital in preparation for the forthcoming feast.
A miracle has taken place. Peace for another 400 years in this place
of adoration and holy sanctuary. The Bishop must be prepared to receive
the statue of Our Lady of Madhu in the church which it belonged and
permit the absolute rights of the faithful to worship the faith of
theirs.
The Security Forces have paved the way for what it was deemed to do
in authority. The Army Ordinance of 1982, prescribed well, its
responsibilities, in demarcating the area of Madhu, as 'non battle
zone'.
Others in arms alone had no right to be there, not again, anymore.
LAL KEERTHIE FERNANDO
The Konawattai bridge connects the Konawattai village with the
Addalaichenai town. This bridge was constructed by the former Minister
A.R.M. Mansoor on the request of late Seenimohamed.
Some time this bridge is described as the Galoya Palama where
thousands of families mostly fishermen live.
Many students, teachers and the people use this bridge daily.
In addition, employees at the Oluvil harbour and various Government
Departments use this bridge. The tsunami severely damaged this bridge.
Furthermore, the villagers of Palamunai, Husainiya Nagar, Thiraikeni,
Oluvil and other passengers use this bridge for various purposes.
Heaps of Salveeniya plants block the excess water which is the main
source of drainage for approximately 1,000 acres of paddy lands because
of the damage to the bridge. Though this matter was brought to the
notice of the authorities it was all in vain.
Eventhough, the Ministers and the relevant authorities pass through
this bridge, no action has been taken to repair it until today.
During the last Presidential Election, Water Supply and Drainage
Minister A.L.M. Athaullah laid the foundation stone for the
reconstruction of this bridge and brought down the required material.
Therefore, we humbly request the relevant Minister and the
authorities to repair this bridge without further delay before it is
washed away.
A. L. Nizam Addalaichenai
I mean not well, pond, stream, river or sea water but the pipe borne
tap water where millions of gallons is wasted annually by the people due
to ignorance and carelessness in using water. If the Water Board
educates the housewives, domestic servants and other house holders, how
to use water decently and carefully. We could save water and money in a
big way.
The authorities should use posters, hold exhibitions, seminars, essay
competitions, poster competitions and house to house methods to educate
the people on how to use water sparingly.
Unlike from wells and ponds, tap water should not be wasted. If the
authorities follow the above methods of educating people, the results
would be rewarding.
D. M. P .B. Dissanayake
Although it was proposed to widen the narrow road of Kumaratunga
Mawatha, Matara decades ago, there is no pragmatic and meaningful action
by the authorities concerned.
I find that Kumaratunga Mawatha in Matara was budgeted financially
for its development and widening operations which has not been done yet
by the Matara MC, UDA and Ministry of Provincial Councils, resulting in
many accidents, traffic jams and a potential danger to schoolchildren of
St. Thomas' College, Matara which is situated on this road.
The main branch of the Matara Bank of Ceylon is situated on this
road. Similarly, there are shops, hospitals, nursing homes, commercial
companies which also use this road.
Therefore, it is imperative that the authorities concerned take
meaningful steps to remedy the grave situation by widening the
Kumaratunga Mawatha, Matara which was approved already for the
convenience and benefit of the citizens of Matara District as well as
others who come to Matara for their day to day dealings.
CAPT. L. B. L. JAYARATNE,
Matara
The great tragedy that occurred to Dilshan Bandaranayake at the
Nuwara Eliya racing circuit is an immense loss to his parents, beloved
wife who is expecting her third child and two small children. I wish to
state that any sensible person who knows simple Arithmetic could
understand that this is not a racing track for cars, as it is only
advisable to have motor cycle races.
This is virtually a death trap for car racing, as there are only a
very few places where a competitor from behind could get an opportunity
of overtaking. The competitor leading will definitely not allow another
competitor to overtake as the track is narrow. The organisers are
totally to be blamed, as it was only last year another competitor named
Ranjith Dhanapala died while competing on this track.
The other most dangerous and deadly sport is the white water rafting
which takes place at Kitulgala. The tragedy took place last year of
young Waruni Yasoda Kalubowila and another young boy who went white
water rafting. She had to leave a young husband and a three-year-old
daughter.
The reason they said was that the boat overturned, as a contractor
who was doing construction work in this area had put a rope across the
river. If this was the reason why on earth is the question that the life
jackets did not open up. The simple answer is that the life jackets were
of sub-standard quality and locally made.
The root cause for all this is money, as the organisers only think of
their coffers and have no respect for human life. The Navy diver who
went in search of the two bodies at Kitulgala also died and his body was
found after three days. The void left by those who died for their family
members can never ever be filled in whatever manner, as their loss can
never be recovered.
There has to be a stop to this deadly sport, as in our land people
get out of any mess with high connections and loopholes in the law. I
therefore request President Mahinda Rajapaksa to ban motor racing for
cars in Nuwara Eliya as well as white water rafting in Kitulgala.
I hope there will be a good response to my request, as why should we
produce orphans and widows wilfully.
Li Kuang Shu,
Kandy
It is an accepted fact that the school-going age is the best age of
any person. Education which is a life-long process begins from schools
which belong to secondary social institutions. Education is an essential
thing for the moulding of character and inculcating good social values
and habits that are the stepping stones for a successful life.
When it comes to imparting education, discipline is regarded as a
must. It is defined as a training of the mind and character aimed at
producing self-control, obedience etc.
If discipline takes a decline then the children will lose the ability
and opportunity for acquiring skills in education. In this way, there
are various factors that have led to the decline of discipline in
schools.
The social and cultural changes have influenced the change of
attitudes of people when science and technology make vast strides in the
development of society.
This modern society does not seem to encourage the children to learn
arts subjects like social studies and history in spite of the fact that
these subjects really help them to become good, law-abiding and
disciplined citizens. Instead, the subjects pertaining to natural
sciences, commerce, engineering and technology are held in very high
esteem.
The people tend to think in terms of the monetary value of the
subjects before encouraging their students for education. However, the
children are compelled to learn some arts subjects as they are included
in the school curricula.
As a result of some parent's misdirected priorities, children do not
show any interest in their studies. e.g. many parents do not come to
schools to see the performance of their children, even once a year
giving excuses that they are busy.
Therefore, the teachers do not get the opportunity to speak to the
parents regarding the children's good or weak performance.
All in all, education is a future investment. It is also a two-way
process where the teachers' skills and students' interest combine, to
produce a clever student, in whose hands the future of the country lies.
The child is said to be the father of man because man can learn many
things from the child. However, the remarkable features in the field of
education is that the girl students are more interested in learning
almost any subject compared to the boy students.
As a solution to indiscipline in schools, some principals have taken
steps to expel the incorrigible students, so that the other students can
be protected. As far as corporal punishment is concerned, it is also not
treated as a genuine way of punishing both in Government and
International schools, due to the present socio-cultural conditions.
One international school teacher told me that the children in a
particular school have used to run away from the school during the last
period. When complained about their unruly behaviour, the principal
concerned, has asked the teacher "to break their legs", as a punishment.
However, any one who is in his right sense, can understand that it is
impracticable and he may have responded in anger about their
indisplinary behaviour.
In Western countries, discipline has declined to such an extent that
some children come to schools armed with guns and shoot their
classmates.
An incident of this nature has taken place in a High School in the
USA and some parents have taken steps to give their children education
at homes according to recent newspaper reports. But, we can be more
optimistic about the behaviour of our children, as such fatal incidents
have not happened in our country.
If the parents and adults are more concerned about giving priority to
their children's education, then it will, slowly but surely, contribute
to the change of their behaviour and attitudes to become good citizens
in the country.
R. SOMASIRI,
Pannipitiya
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