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The long week-end in March was a perfect opportunity to get away from
the noisy, overcrowded and polluted city of Colombo. My grandfather aged
93 along with my mother and I hopped on to a privately run luxury Rail
service to Peradeniya (Kandy). Glossy photos of these trains and
luxurious rides along the picturesque hill country adorned many
magazines and newspapers, since their commencement.
The hype that was created during its introduction made me seriously
think about opting for rail transport instead of travelling by vehicle.
While facilities such as these are beneficial for the revival of the Sri
Lankan railway system, the basic needs of the travellers should be a
priority.
Accessibility is an important indispensable basic human right. This
is important for a country such as ours, since a large numbers of our
war victims are disabled. Sri Lanka also has one of the largest aging
populations in South Asia. By 2013, 22% of our population will be above
60 years. A great number of youth also have debilitating conditions
either by birth or due to injury.
Sri Lanka's public services including the transport services have
failed so far to provide equal access to those with disabilities and to
the elderly. The luxury train service we boarded to Kandy had no wheel
chair assistance for my grandfather. The steps to get onto the train
should be within easy reach for those with limited mobility.
Parliament Act No. 28 of 1996 states, 'no person should be
discriminated on the ground of disability and their mobility restricted
in a manner which precludes or impedes them from gaining reasonable
physical access to public buildings and facilities provided within such
buildings, especially the toilet facilities'. It is paramount that the
key architectural elements of public buildings should be designed to
address the diverse mobility needs of the population.
This includes floor surfaces, pathways and corridors, doors and
entrances, steps and stairs, hand-rails and grab bars, ramps, toilets
and car parks. By providing the masses such basic facilities, the
productivity of the country can be improved. The people with curtailed
mobility will be able to live to their true potential. Their employment
prospects and access to education would increase. People with
disabilities and the elderly will also be able to perform their daily
tasks without depending on others.
Sri Lanka is aggressively marketing itself as one of the hottest
tourist destinations in the world. Sri Lanka has been named as the
number one destination in the world to visit in 2013 by the travel guide
book and digital media publisher – Ó The Lonely Planet”. With the
increase of tourist arrivals to the country, one would need to give
serious thought to the level of service offered by us in comparison to
some of the emerging tourist markets. Vietnam being an emerging market
for tourism are far ahead of us in their attention to people's basic
needs such as offering assistance to those with limited mobility. Since
the luxury train service in the country specifically caters to the
tourist market, facilities such as providing wheel chair assistance for
passengers is a basic requirement.
Sri Lanka's public services sector including the transportation
authority needs to take urgent action in order to remedy this situation.
New buildings being constructed at the very least, should provide
suitable entrances and toilets for those with limited mobility. Our
public transport system needs to be sensitive to the needs of the
disabled community of this country. We cannot boast about being the
'Wonder of Asia' if we overlook the most vulnerable of populations.
Shari Jayawardhana
Email
Rubber small holders face serious problems of safety guarding sheet
rubber and crepe produced by them, from thieves. Even more painful is
the threat to their rubber trees by illegal tapping and extraction of
latex, which ruins tapping panels of the trees. The final outcome of
these is the rapid reduction of the yield, causing slow death of the
tree due to bark-rot.
The Rubber Control Act of 1956 has provisions to minimize rubber
thefts. They are as follows:
a. Purchasing rubber could be made only by dealers registered with
the Rubber Development Department.
b. Rubber Dealers are required to obtain a completed R.C. 15 form
from the seller to identify the seller and the source of the rubber.
c. The Rubber Development Department to monitor activities of rubber
Dealers to ensure that they conform to the above regulations.
Surprisingly these requirements are not enforced by the Rubber
Development Department. This gives a grand opportunity for thieves to
fleece small holders. Unless the above provisions are enforced very
early, the efforts of the Rubber Development Department by providing the
rubber replanting subsidy and other services will be of little benefit
to small holders.
Forgotten Small Holders
The construction of the new bridge across the lagoon in Batticaloa is
a landmark in the development programme in the Eastern Province.
Batticaloa is a lagoon-locked city. Britishers did not build bridges
when they ruled over this country but provided ferries.
It took more then 30 minutes to cross the Batticaloa lagoon. R.S.
Agar who shot the man eating Punani leopard, has mentioned in his book,
that he had to wait for two hours to get his car across the Valachchenai
lagoon.
In 1907 Governor William Blake sanctioned the construction of a
bridge. But Sir Henry McCallum dropped the idea as it was considered too
costly.
The bridge was finally constructed in 1925 after the railway line was
laid to Batticaloa. This is one of the longest bridges in Sri Lanka, the
other being the Railway Bridge at Manampitiya. It is said that standing
on this bridge on a moonlight light, is possible to hear the singing
fish.
B.B. Perera, Katubedda
A tyre shop caught fire in a busy area at about 10.30 p.m. in the
Mannar town on March 24. The fire was said to have started due to a
short circuit and the shop was in flames, as it had stored an array of
rubber-based tyres. People in the neighbouring houses were working
tirelessly to put the fire out by pouring water, brought in by them in
buckets.
But they could not stop the shop from being badly damaged in the
fire. Meanwhile, telephone calls were made to the Mannar Police seeking
their help. Several policemen arrived at the spot with two water bowsers
and joined the people to extinguish the fire.
The Head Quarters Inspector Thaluwatha himself came to the spot and
gave a helping hand to the policemen to put out the fire. People in
Mannar praise the police unreservedly, for their noteworthy contribution
in this incident.
S.A. Croos – Mannar
Numerous letters have appeared in various newspapers from time to
time, spotlighting the plight of the pre-2006 pensioners who are in the
twilight of their life.
Yet no action has been taken by the authorities concerned to address
the problems faced by this category of pensioners regarding the
rectification of their pension anomalies so far.
What the pre-2006 pensioners ask, is the fulfillment of a promise
given regarding the rectification of anomalies in the pensions of those
who retired before 1.1.2006.
The pre-2006 pensioners were hopefully waiting to receive revised
pensions after rectification of the anomalies but were dismayed to find
that it had not been effected and that nothing positive had happened.
They are languishing in dire straits.
At this juncture, I would emphatically appeal to the President to
consider the grievance expressed in our earlier letters and rectify the
pension anomalies to enable the pensioners to enjoy reasonable benefits
within their remaining short life time.
S. Tharmalingam - Moratuwa
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