Priority for security

Our main front page picture yesterday which showed a group of police personnel checking parcels and baggage of bus passengers in the Pettah it is hoped would give an assurance to the public on the extent of the vigilance mounted by the authorities to ensure the safety of passengers in public transport in the face of the LTTE threat to blow up buses.

The extra security measures came into operation following the detection of explosives inside two passenger buses on the same day over the weekend and the unearthing of another time bomb set to blow up an electricity transformer in the Hill Capital.

The National Transport Commission in conjunction with the Police have mapped out a strategy to ensure buses ply with minimum risk by educating all bus crew on the safety precautions to be adopted.

But as experiences have shown there is always the tendency to relax and drop guard with the passage of time with caution thrown to the wind where profit is at stake. We say this because earlier too there were specific instructions issued by the defence authorities not to allow passengers place any parcels or baggage on the overhead tacks of buses.

This was following the Piliyandala bomb blast where the deadly explosive was found to be stored in a parcel and placed on the rack of the ill fated bus.

But after some time this rule was observed in the breach as private bus crew realised they were losing revenue when parcels and baggage occupied space meant for passengers inside buses. It is this profit motive that has proved to the be the bane of public security all along.

It is no secret today that houses are being rented to complete strangers at exorbitant down payments and more often than not these were used as terrorist cells as subsequent investigations have managed to unearth.

This aspect has to be focused on by the authorities in their bid to eliminate the terrorist threat from our midst. True no one can question the right of any landlord to whom he rents his premises or at what monthly rate.

But there has to be some regulation guiding this aspect short of infringing the rights of the individual.

Today at a time when terrorists stalk every nook and corner of the City and carry out acts of savagery on civilians with regular frequency it is paramount on the part of authorities to factor in all these eventualities. For their prime duty is to protect civilian lives and towards ensuring this if there is a need to dispense with certain niceties, so be it.

Revival in Jaffna

The huge turnout at the carnival staged at Jaffna's Alfred Duraiappa Stadium (itself a tribute to the LTTE's first victim) over the weekend shows the desire of the people of the North to break out from their isolated existence and share in the fun and entertainment that goes on in other parts of the country that is almost taken for granted by us.

According to our front page story yesterday over 100,000 people attended the carnival which included cycle and marathon races - events that are common in sports festivals in the South.

Our caption depicting the winner of the cycle race posing with a huge national flag held aloft is certainly a happy augury for national unity and fraternal feeling among the communities.

It could also presage an Eastern type revolution in the North in the not too distant future where the Sri Lankan flag will be hoisted in all areas after return of freedom to its people.

The Duraiappa stadium assumes significance in that it is here that the first bullet in the separatist war was fired by Velupillai Prabhakaran himself when he gunned down Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappa.

That the venue of that dastardly act which signified the beginning of the separatist war has today become a rallying point of unity and a symbol of national feeling itself speaks volumes vis-a-vis the Government's battle for winning of the hearts and minds of the Jaffna population.

The Army's 51st Brigade which organised the event under the supervision of the Jaffna Commander Major General G.A. Chandrasiri should be commended for the effort.

We expect this to be the beginning of more events of this nature that would showcase the skills and talents the youth of Jaffna leading to better understanding and appreciation of each other's worth by both Sinhala and Tamil communities that would greatly help in the Government's fence mending exercise being pursued in all earnestness.