|
The road work at Kohuwala Junction which commenced around 2010 is
left half done. This task has been done haphazardly. The expensive
paving work has been done at the whims and fancies of untrained labour,
with no supervision.
The paving area where hardly two people can walk inconvenient for the
pedestrians especially the weak and feeble. Excess rubble have not been
removed but piled up on the paving.
On January 12, 2012 a quantity of road repair material was dumped on
the side of the road. Workers left the area leaving the unprotected
repair material. Work of the Traffic signal posts is half completed and
it has placed right in the centre of the paved area forcing pedestrians
to step on to the moving traffic.
The post box is also a comic sight as the top of the post box is now
at knee level due to the raising of the road level. All these factors
reflect the lack of co-ordination by the relevant authorities to get
things done methodically if not simultaneously even though this has been
pointed out by the President himself at his periodical briefings with
Government officials.
At Ratanapitiya junction, work commenced about two years back with a
million dollar valued crane, steel girders and rubble and put in place
to construct a bridge. After a short while , digging operations came to
a standstill and all these expensive material are now covered with weeds
and grass.
What is more visible are the newly constructed buildings and
foundations closeby that have come up overnight probably with most of
the building material pilfered from the site. The public have a right to
know why this tax money is wasted.
Melville Perera
The youths of today look at life more positively and feel that they
should make life more meaningful to support its values with the new
challenges by improving their skills and career development with the
recent technologies introduced which avails them the opportunity to make
use all this to its fullest.
Moreover they are self- motivated individuals and their aim towards
achieving higher educational aspect is carefully analyzed and selected.
The youths of upper class are competitively strive to qualify
themselves academically with a motto to fit into a society that they
mingle with, who are equally qualified today.
It is disappointing to note that youths who are less fortunate have
no means of educating themselves as education today is demanding and
costly. Some of them may be studious individuals, but cannot afford to
reach their objectives unless there will be a sponsor to educate him/her
to fulfill their educational aspiration.
Education today is being sold and it is rare that you will find a
youth who is academically acclaimed, willing to give free education to
another youth. They should remember that Education/Knowledge gathered
should be shared with those in question and by this way you are helping
another to achieve his/her ambition.
On the other hand, today's youths are more interested in exploring
different websites. There are some websites which are prohibited to
youths.
The most common are the mushroom communication centres opened in
every nook and corner of the city and suburbs. Rs.30-40 per hour is
charged.
A credit facility is offered to attract more visits. The rush is
noticed by schoolboys in uniform. Small cubicles are made to provide
privacy. If we have to rectify this, the authorities concerned must
instruct/check all communication outlets to put up "No admittance." By
this, it will help the parents to monitor/supervise and control on their
children's activities.
Thereby, the parents support and guidance could motivate them to
become worthwhile individuals. If not, they will be useless citizens and
be totally isolated from society.
Fashion today is popularly exposed and caters to all segments of
people. Youths of today are all fashion conscious and they design their
clothing to keep up to the present trends.
They would not mind any expenditure to be in fashion. On many
occasions it is seen that selection of clothes to suit a particular
occasion is not carefully done by the youngsters, as most times they are
exposed to clothes immodestly attired which is open for temptation.
The enormous sum spent on such clothing bears a heavy burden on their
parents. Many of them realize that a particular fashion would soon pass
away; even then they waste their money over it.
Costly dresses are often discarded, only because the fashion has
passed away. Girls, specially the educated ones waste on such clothing.
Jacintha John
It is an accepted fact that man has a fervent hope of increasing his
life time. However, he has to face a lot of challenges in this modern
society when it comes to leading a long life. As far as Buddhist culture
is concerned, priority has to be given to the preservation of health;
Arogya Parama Labha stresses the importance of health more than other
material gains.
It is proved that the Japanese enjoy a longer life than those of the
other countries in the world. According to an article published recently
in one of the Sunday newspapers, a specialist/doctor has revealed the
secrets of longevity of the Japanese who adopt a healthy life style
having taken into consideration the following facts .
In spite of the fact that they do not use various kinds of vitamins
to increase their physical energy , more attention is being paid on
their healthy eating habits. Secondly, Japanese are interested in
working hard as well as increasing their efficiency.
Although there are kinds of imported food items in the Japanese
markets , it is said that , they are not willing to consume those items
except those grown and produced in their own country.
They refrain from eating sweets, meats and short eats in between the
major meals. Green tea is said to be a popular beverage among them.
Taking three balanced diets in a day is one of their habits. Dinner is
taken early - before going to sleep.
The health institutions in Japan are said to be well versed in the
research knowledge of exercise and it is rarely that a person can be
seen with protruded belly in Japan. Knowledge about exercise is a
special awareness which is created among the senior citizens in Japan.
The Japanese are willing to do exercises. Cycling and walking are their
habits which are part of their culture. It is said that they do
exercises even during office (working ) hours.
The religions that they follow are Buddhism and Shintoism. The simple
gist and belief of these religions are that, all that they consume
belong to the environment and all other beings . Based on this thinking
they tend to thank all others and the things in the environment on
behalf of what they consume.
The flexibility of the religious background created by these two
religions encourage them to work without any stress in spite of their
hectic life.
Almost everybody in the modern society says , without any hesitation,
that urbanization and hectic life of man have led to all diseases. But
it is very appropriate to find out how a country like Japan which is in
the fore-front of scientific and technological development in the world
has overcome all the barriers relating to preservation of their healthy
life style to increase the rate of life expectancy more than the other
countries.
The Japanese life style and behavioral patterns can be followed by us
as examples to lead a healthy life.
R.Somasiri
When SWRD Bandaranaike was the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka he
promoted all the chairmen of the Village Councils as JPs for their
districts.
The ID card issued to JPs clearly states this is purely a generous
duty to serve the public honourably. All documents to be signed without
charging any fee." Sri Lanka Police and all other departments could
obtain the service of JPs to maintain peace.
When the situation is such, some of the JPs charge a fee for
attesting the documents specially near court houses and at the Pass Port
Office.
The undue charging of fees by JPs should be investigated by the
Bribery Commission.
H G P Jayasekera JP
All school van operators should be required to paint or paste a
sticker on the rear of the vehicle. It would show a line drawing of a
recklessly driven school van on the road and the emergency number to
ring. This would avoid the language problem and be understood by all.
Dominic L J Seneviratne
I made my way to the Kollupitiya post office recently and was amazed
at its transformation.
From the dull and unclean appearance, it now looks clean with a
bright look.
I am told the new look is due to the efforts of the postmaster who
has taken the initiative to bring it to this prime condition. It may be
the only post office in the island with customer friendly look and
service.
Allan de Alwis
|
