Madhu Church

The return of the venerated Statue of Our Lady of Madhu to the Madhu Shrine marks a significant milestone. Although the Feast itself will not be held this year, Catholics in Sri Lanka and elsewhere are rejoicing that the Statue is back again in its usual abode.

The credit must go to the Security Forces, who regained the Madhu area without any bloodshed despite the intensity of the conflict elsewhere.

The Church had been damaged by the actions of the LTTE, which had also laid landmines and boobytraps around it prevent a Security Forces advance.

This could not prevent the Forces’ march, however. Soldiers, nearly all of them Buddhist, then toiled day and night to repair the damaged sections of the Church and clear the mines. Could there be a better example for religious harmony than this?

The Forces must also be lauded for maintaining a close rapport with the Catholic Church through the renovation process and finally inviting Mannar Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph to see the progress and take over the Church.

The Madhu Church is in a theatre of conflict, but that has not prevented devotees from visiting the shrine previously for the Feast. All Governments have endeavoured to provide them all facilities, even if the area was dominated by the LTTE on some occasions.

In fact, successive Governments had appealed to the LTTE to treat the Madhu Church area as a peace zone. Now that the Madhu area is firmly under Government control, this will be a reality.

The Madhu Church is not the only place of worship that has been affected by the conflict. There are many more temples, churches, kovils and mosques which have either been destroyed or partially damaged. Some others have been abandoned.

There are also ruins of ancient Buddhist temples in the North and the East. Now that the East has been completely liberated, the authorities should take steps to uncover such archaeological treasures and also assist existing temples and other places of worship.

It is no secret that places of worship in all rural areas, not just those in the conflict-affected zones, face many difficulties.

The Government should address these grievances. The Government is already granting many concessions for religious places of worship including a tariff reduction for electricity.

It should make a systematic assessment of the needs of places of worship in conflict-affected areas and grant them more concessions, for religious discourse is the best answer to rancour and discord.

Life saving aids

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Felix Perera has said that all fishermen will be required to wear life jackets in the near future, after the relevant laws are passed. This is an excellent decision, though long overdue.

The Government will no doubt work out the logistics and the expenditure of this move, but life cannot simply be measured in monetary terms. There have been many instances where fishermen have perished in mid-sea after their boats capsized.

It is not only the fishing sector that needs this regulation but also the growing leisure boating industry, both marine and inland. Laws governing this sector are vague and one wonders whether they even exist.

The boats carrying local and foreign tourists in inland waterways and on the high seas are usually overloaded and there are absolutely no life jackets even for the children. It is a frightening prospect indeed.

The simple truth is that life jackets save lives. Boating accidents and loss of lives can be avoided if the crew and passengers wear life jackets on boating excursions. We read at least one such tragedy every week and have often wondered why Sri Lanka still lags behind in imposing this kind of regulation.

The laws that are being drawn up should thus include the leisure boating industry as well. We are notorious for not using life-saving devices even when they are available. Just how many drivers and passengers bother to wear seat belts in this country? Only a few. Just like life jackets, seat belts do save lives.

In addition, the airbags in many cars do not work if the seat belt is not worn properly. Although there have been talk of making seat belt use compulsory, it has remained just that.

Fire safety is another grey area. There are many buildings in Sri Lanka which do not meet adequate fire safety standards. The use of fire resistant material, fire doors, fire/smoke alarms, extinguishers and sprinklers is still at a very low level.

Such safety devices should be made compulsory for all new buildings and where possible, retro-fitted to existing buildings. Let’s face it - these devices save lives. Regulations and the will to implement and follow them are needed. The helmet laws are a good example.

Today, all riders reach for the helmet without even thinking about it - it has ben ingrained in our minds for more than a generation now. They all know that helmets save lives and not wearing one will result in a fine and worse, death. The same psychological conditioning is now needed for lifejackets et al.