State banks boast of providing the most customer friendly services
but I had a surprise at one of them recently. I went to this bank
opposite the bus terminal at Rajagiriya, to pay the last installment of
a loan and redeem my FD certificate.
As I was not sure of the exact amount of the outstanding balance, I
left only that cage blank and asked the lady behind the counter the
relevant amount, handing over the slip and keeping the money on the
counter. I have seen a special counter for us senior citizens on crowded
days at this bank, and at many other business centres as well, with a
good reputation. The lady however returned the slip and directed me to
another counter. I politely said that I was prepared to pay the whole
dues then and there, but she paid no attention whatsoever. After another
fifteen minutes I reached my turn at her counter and was compelled to
ask her whether she was on 'work to rule' that day. What is the use of
providing her with a computer if she cannot spend a few seconds to tap
her fingertips and provide the efficient service the bank boasts of?
The main factor to determine the efficiency of a bank is the time
taken to finish a transaction and release a customer but that did not
seem to be the objective here. No teller of any mercantile bank would
have acted the way she did. Also all banks and finance companies pay an
extra 1% interest for senior citizens on their fixed deposits but this
bank was the only place where I found things in a negative attitude.
This bank spends millions to advertise their business but does not seem
to care for a senior citizen or a regular customer at the counter. The
authorities should first introduce a code of conduct for employees on
'courtesy'.
Superiors at the head office at Colpetty should suspend the TV
commercials and colourful leaflets and discipline their employees first,
to maintain the reputation of the bank intact.
LEON SILVA
ATHURIGIRIYA
I read with much interest the article titled ‘Give Life to Cinnamon
Industry’, written by Harshi Nadie Perera in the Citizen’s Mail column
of April 22, 2013. Of course, cinnamon is our best plantation crop as
well as the first crop to earn foreign exchange before tea, rubber or
coconut came to the scene. Even today, cinnamon is the fourth most
important plantation agriculture crop to earn foreign exchange, as well
as to provide a livelihood to many Sri Lankans. The Hanguranketha
Givisuma signed on 14th February 1766 between King Keerthi Sri
Rajasinghe and the Dutch Governor, is the best historical evidence on
the cinnamon trade in this country.
The writer states that the present day exporter does not get a fair
price for cinnamon. However, that is not correct as the best price for
cinnamon is received today. The best Alba grade cinnamon fetches Rs.
1700 per kg and the Hamburg grade gets Rs. 900 a kg. The same cinnamon
produced in Madagascar or the Seychelles Islands fetches a maximum of
Rs. 1.10 only. It is true that there is a shortage of cinnamon peelers
throughout the country and that it is hard to retain the younger
generation in this industry, due to low social recognition.
Understanding the situation, the Department of Export Agriculture which
is the government authorised organisation for the industry, has now
established a Cinnamon Training Academy attached to the world’s one and
only Cinnamon Research Station located at Pallopitiya in Matara, to
provide adequate training in semi-mechanized peeling techniques under a
good working environment to those interested. The ultimate aim, is to
convert cinnamon peeling sheds to cinnamon factories. This will lead to
development of the industry and also facilitate the purchase of cinnamon
sticks directly.
The Department provides financial assistance to establish processing
centres in addition to cultivating plantations. I am happy to mention
that plantation companies have accepted this project and have
contributed to expand plantations and have installed their own
processing centres under good working environments.
W.D.L. GUNARATNE ,
DIRECTOR GENERAL,
DEPARTMENT OF EXPORT , AGRICULTURE,
PERADENIYA
A new bridge has been opened in Kallady in Batticaloa. In the 1950s
we lived about 100 yards away from the old Kallady bridge. I attended
St. Michael’s College which at the time was run by Jesuit priests. Some
of them took a keen interest in the belief that some fish under the
bridge sing in the night. They even published a school newsletter called
‘The Singing Fish’. Senior students organized expeditions to the Kallady
bridge on moonlit nights to listen to the fish. They dropped a steel
wire with one end tied to a weight into the water, and the other fitted
to the bottom of a cigarette tin. When the mouth of the empty tin was
placed against the ear, we could hear occasional faint murmurs. The
murmurs may have been the flowing of water through the steel wire or
sounds made by some kind of fish. Some fathers had gone in a boat and
managed to record the noise made by the fish. On Lake Road, angling was
common. Some kinds of small fish when caught, used to make a noise
similar to the ornamental Cat Fish or the Dolphin but in a lesser
intensity, being comparatively smaller in size. It wasn’t anything close
to music but a rhythmic noise.
S.R. BALACHANDRAN
WELLAWATTE
The Kataragama People's Bank Rest built with peoples' money, was
opened for pilgrims several years ago. It is large enough for pilgrims
to be provided with accommodation, at a nominal or even at a slightly
higher rate. That was what happened all these years. It also provided
employment for people. All of them treated pilgrims with respect. The
Bank of Ceylon too has accommodation and restaurant facilities for
pilgrims. The Bank of Ceylon restaurant has a clearly visible sign
board, that only vegetarian food is sold there.
The People's Bank Rest stopped providing accommodation to pilgrims,
while its restaurant was kept open. From this year, they have stopped
that facility too. It is said that this decision was taken by the
People's Bank Employees' Union. Can the People's Bank Management
enlighten the public on the reason for this closure? Why can't a State
bank continue a service they have been providing to the public for many
years? It brings to memory how the late Sarath Muttewegama MP once
described the People's Bank. He said it was not People's Bank but it was
some People's Bank. May I ask whether the bank employees' bank does not
want to feel the pulse of the people?
PALITHA JAYASINGHE
NAWALA
There is an eighty odd year old building opposite the Fort Railway
station located in a corner, at the intersection of Front Street and
Olcott Mawatha to be precise, with the wordings ‘Victoria Building 1929’
on the facade. The top floor of this building is in a dilapidated
condition. There are a couple of shops, pharmacies, textile shops on the
ground floor as well as hotels and other shops in the adjoining
buildings. I do not know why the UDA has not taken action to demolish
this building which poses a major risk of collapsing at any moment like
the six storey building that sank and tilted in Maliban Street on the
adjoining road, recently.
In that case, luckily there were no causalities and at the time of
the incident, the watcher of the building who had been inside had
somehow managed to escape.
When I thought of the loss of lives that may occur in the event of
the building collapsing during a rush hour, I thought of drawing the
attention of the Defence Secretary who is in charge of the UDA, to take
action to demolish this building. Suitable alternate accommodation could
be provided to the existing tenants until such time the building is
completely renovated.
MOHAMED ZAHRAN
COLOMBO 3
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s assurance that there will be no
communal disharmony or violence in Sri Lanka is very commendable, timely
and a relief for Muslims who have been continuously agitated over the
trivial issue of halal certificates for food items.
This assurance was given to visiting resident heads of 15 Islamic
countries who met the President at Temple Trees last week.
It is evident that Muslims in Sri Lanka are a peace loving people who
strongly stood for its integrity and sovereignty. Even during the war
times the Muslims of this country did not support a separate state and
stood for a united Sri Lanka. Even in the past the Muslims have remained
as patriotic citizens and played their role in gaining independence.
The Muslim community thank the President for giving the assurance
that any type of communal violence by any extremists elements will be
strictly dealt with.
Z.A.M. SHUKOOR ARA NAYAKE
Corrupt elements seem to be hampering government's efforts centred on
developing the country. This situation is a setback to the government's
resolve to boost economic prosperity in Sri Lanka. These miscreants pose
a real threat to society. In this atmosphere, people seem to be easily
inclined to drift into crimes such as bribery, fraud deception and
similar shady deals. Complaints of bribery and corruption now happen to
be a common occurrence. The solution to this menace lies in widening the
Bribery Commission's scope of investigating complaints. On account of
the volume of complaints officials have been experiencing pressure and
may have been making little headway in their investigations. Therefore
it is very clear that the Bribery Commission's capacity for
investigating complaints needs to be strengthened by expanding
operations at provincial level. The hope for reform is the
intensification of efforts on the part of the Bribery Commission.
NANDARATNE RAJAPAKSHA
AMBALANGODA
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