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DateLine Tuesday, 10 March 2009

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Law: Awareness and activism

Women’s Affairs Minister Sumedha G. Jayasena speaking at Sunday’s International Women’s Day function quite rightly made the point that although plenty of laws exist to protect our women the fact remains that they are not aware of this.

What is more she said our law enforcement and even judicial circles are not entirely familiar with these laws enacted to protect women from abuse and victimisation.

As a result women continue to be subjugated and wallow in misery resigned to their fate. One doubts even if they are aware of the laws meant for their protection they would have the courage to seek justice in a courts of law given the cultural norms that binds our women to their traditional role.

Leave aside our women, without doubt a large majority of the public too are not aware of the general laws of the land that afford them protection against many vicissitudes. True, one cannot expect an ordinary layman to grasp the intricacies of a heady subject such as law.

This is however in contrast to the citizens in the more developed West where topics as consumer protection laws, laws governing fundamental rights, equality etc are well within their grasp. The numerous agitations one sees on Television screens by activists in Western capitals taking their rulers to task on the infringement of consumer protection laws etc. amply demonstrates this point.

This is also often seen in the litigation pertaining to violation of environmental laws where the authorities more often than not fall foul of citizens groups. In short these citizens assert their rights before the law instead of remaining passive spectators to the passing scene.

This is contrast to the lethargy of the Sri Lankan public to organise themselves against violation of laws with impunity by various groups be it the state or the private sector that has had led to the powerful taking our citizens for granted while investing themselves with a licence to do as they please.

If the public take the trouble to acquaint themselves even with the basic law of the country they would be in a position to hold those liable of transgressing the laws at their will and pleasure.

There was a time when former Justice Minister Vincent Perera launched on a project to take the law to the grass roots so that the ordinary man would be enlightened at least with those aspects of the law that governs his own interest.

As with all such projects this too fell by the way side. A committed effort should be made by some enterprising group or a body of civic minded people to educate the public on the laws of the country.

This by itself is not sufficient. They should be mobilized to ensure the laws of land are not violated with impunity. How many of our people collectively object to the filling of flood retention land flouting all laws. Hence knowledge of the law also would not suffice if no action is taken to uphold the law.

The people should be taught the basic laws governing their rights and privileges so that they would be in position to challenge any infringement. Above all there should be a mobilisation of the public to protect their rights as guaranteed by the law and an organised attempt to reflect the voice of the public by challenging the various enactments that go against the public interest.

With the present liberalised ethos and unbridled consumerism the chances are great for riding rough shod over public concerns by ignoring the laws of the country as mentioned before. In Western societies the community organises themselves to challenge draconian laws and in matters especially affecting their own interests.

This is chiefly due to the fact that they are well-grounded in the laws of their countries and fuelled by activism to ensure these laws are implemented as they should be. Sadly in Sri Lanka we are in a state of drift unable to assert ourselves due to ignorance on the aspects of law or is it our natural tendency to let things lie due to ingrained lethargy.

It is time we divest ourselves from this mindset and act positively to ensure the laws of the country are not abused and the rights of every citizen are protected.


That Bloemendhal garbage

The Bloemendhal garbage mountain is once again in the news. A section of this monstrosity had collapsed damaging several nearby shanties. The front page picture yesterday depicting this eyesore no doubt would once again open the debate between the CMC and the Environment authorities with outcome all too predictable.

It is unimaginable that nothing seem to happening as regard the fate of this garbage mountain which today sticks out like sore thumb at the very entrance to the city.

Is it prudent to do nothing at a time of heightened security in Colombo and edicts going out to clear all garbage dumps in street corners due to the security threat. Why cannot the clearing of this stinking behemoth be carried out with some foreign collaboration if it is beyond the capacity of the CMC.

The ready excuse that is being trotted out is the lack of an alternate location to supplant this mountain.

So is the city of Colombo which was once described as the Garden City of Asia going to wallow in this squalid backdrop forever? What happened to the proposal about recycling this garbage volume for power generation. It is time that some firm action is taken to rid the country’s commercial capital of this obscene sentinel that has marred the city landscape.

Despite heavy odds:

Lowering inflation further, Govt's aim

Trade, Marketing Development, Consumer Affairs and Cooperatives Minister Bandula Gunawardana, in an exclusive interview with the Daily News, expresses optimism that the prices of goods would continue their downward trend, reducing the cost of living.

Full Story

The sound of a breaking heart

I thought I was immune to tragedy. I thought I was used to death. I thought that having seen my country move from military authoritarianism to civilian dictatorship, past Kargil and Kashmir would be enough.

Full Story

Humanitarian operations and civilian safety

Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, MP was interviewed by Stephen Sackur for “BBC HARDtalk” on March 02, 2009

Full Story

 

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