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A workshop on leadership and educational tour on the basis of
Friendship Foundation, initiated by the Education Ministry was held in
Mannar on June 16. Under this programme teachers and students from two
Tamil schools and one Sinhala school in Mannar had a rare opportunity to
meet their counterparts in a school from the south - WP/Terrence N. De
Silva Maha Vidyalaya, Kolonnawa. The inaugural session held at
Sithivinayakar Hindu College, Mannar was well organised by the school
management.
The Zonal Education Director M.M . Ziyan, Brigadier Mithra Dias of
the SL Army and the two school principals addressed the gathering at the
inaugural session. ?It was facilitated by the Sri Lanka Army 54th
Division in Mannar which provided the necessary help to the organisers.
Colonel Ananda Ariyan, the coordinator of this programme had made all
arrangements for this event to take place smoothly. This is yet another
contribution by the 54th Division to help establish a cordial
relationship in Mannar between the people of the North and the South. As
a goodwill gesture, the Army also donated some resource material and
equipment to these schools. The Trilingual Association of Mannar which
promotes inter-cultural peace and friendship through linguistic bond
gave a helping hand providing translations and interpretations. The
programme paved the way for better understanding among the school
communities of different cultural and linguistic background in our
country. Creating this kind of relationship based on friendship and
mutual trust is the need of the hour for Sri Lanka to usher in a
peaceful and harmonious co-existence among all people.
S.A. Croos
The Indirillagoda bridge in Beruwala one comes across when traveling
from Colombo to Matara is in a dilapidated condition. Nearly a hundred
trains cross this bridge daily to and fro Colombo. During office hours
these trains are almost jam packed with some commuters travelling even
on the foot boards. When trains rush past across this bridge, the
vibration could be felt even a few metres away. It is feared that a
disaster could occur by trains speeding across this dilapidated bridge.
The public urge the Railway Department authorities to pay immediate
attention and commence the repairs and renovations of this bridge on a
priority basis.
Munidasa Kamburawala
It is true that the Central Bank has an attentive eye on the
operations of approved finance companies, to safeguard the interest of
deposit holders. However it should be clearly understood that the
Central Bank does not guarantee the return of deposits or accumulated
interest.
It should take constructive steps to rectify the situation. With
effect from 1.1.2012 Rs. 200,000 of total deposits per person per
finance company is secured by the Sri Lanka Deposit Insurance Scheme of
the Central Bank. This is a good move.
Some finance companies issue circulars stating that all deposits
without any limitations are covered under this insurance scheme.
This is a misleading statement and deposit holders may fall into
trouble.
Hopefully the Central Bank will intervene in this matter and issue a
warning to all registered finance companies for publishing such
statements which violate Central Bank regulations.
Strictly speaking, all circulars to the public calling for deposits
should be approved by the Central Bank before publication. It is hoped
that the public would be benefited by this information.
S.R. Balachandran
My letter captioned ‘Collecting used yoghurt cups – Great move’
appeared in your esteemed journal on June 11, 2012 two days before the
Kochchikade Church Feast.
Whilst lauding the effort taken by an environment loving organization
to collect and recycle used yoghurt and drinking cups, which is an
environment threat specially at a time when dengue is a life threatening
epidemic, I pointed out that business organizations which use plastic
cups to pack their foods and drinks, should be told to ensure that the
environment is not being polluted by their exercise.
The importance of this was quite evident to visitors to the
Kochchikade Church on the day of the Feast.
The whole vicinity was covered with used plastic cups scattered very
irresponsibly.
It was a very sorry sight to witness. The business organizations
which ran those sales stalls and vans should have at least placed a few
bins around the sales vans in which consumers could have placed the used
cups.
Now that it is known that plastic cups could be recycled if handed
over to the proper authorities, offenders who pay scant attention to
such public concerns should severely be dealt with irrespective of size
and stature. When householders who do not keep their gardens properly
cleaned are being charged for spreading of dengue, it is surprising that
major offenders who are responsible for allowing used plastic cups to be
thrown all over go scot-free without any punishment.
I hope that this would catch the eyes of the Health authorities who
are faced with a major challenge today to eradicate dengue and to attend
to other connected environmental concerns.
Sanjay Fernando
A Greek sculptor was asked as to why he carved the backs of his
statues which could not be seen by anyone. He said that the Gods would
see them. This I remembered when I visited the planetarium. The tall,
slant, concrete supports built around the colossal structure are painted
outside while the corridors seem to have never been painted. The light
blue coloured pond around the planetarium is waterless with specks of
muddy appearances. A staffer there told me that the water is being
absorbed into the earth as there are lots of leaks. Despite earning a
very good revenue daily these shortcomings are a sad sight. It is not
proper to decorate the front and keep the rear ugly.
With regard to the Museum, some indicative arrows should be displayed
inside it to enable visitors to follow all the exhibits methodically as
in the Dehiwala zoo. I saw visitors and school children go astray sans
seeing the different items as there is no proper system covering the
exhibits. A word of praise has to be given to the museum canteen for its
cleanliness and availability of food items at reasonable prices. On the
Museum's third floor there are words spelt as ‘dipicting’, ‘discribed’
and ‘abundunce’ which should be corrected. Although most places in the
Museum have the narration in all three languages, the History floor
lacks same in Tamil in many important places.
Hope the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration will
focus its attention on this matter.
Nazly Cassim
Many letters appeared in the newspapers in recent times regarding the
limiting of passengers travelling in trishaws to three only, and about
the wearing of safety belts by passengers in motor vehicles. We see very
often just one small child travelling in a trishaw with no safety belt
and with even both sides of the trishaw wide open.
A couple of days back I saw while at the Colpetty junction, a small
child munching a pastry and carrying a school bag piggy back, travelling
alone in a trishaw. Due to the school bag, he was not firmly rested on
the seat, but was almost on the edge.
Is it not safer for the child to have had a safety belt or if not,
for the trishaw to have some sort of safety contraption such as fixed
doors or railings on both sides, to avoid any misfortune? It is likely
that sometimes the little child might get dislodged from the seat when
brakes are applied suddenly, or when he or she falls asleep. Is not a
seat belt or some safety precaution more important for a lonely child in
a trishaw than a seat belt for a closed vehicle ? The authorities should
take this into consideration.
Mohamed Zahran
I am a government pensioner of 73 years. During the last two years I
suffered two heart attacks and was under treatment at the Karapitiya
Teaching Hospital. Consultant Cardiologist Dr. P.P. Santhananthan
referred me to Consultant Cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr. G.A.C. Amarasena
at the Colombo National Hospital who went through the test reports I had
and confirmed the surgery. I registered in ward No. 26 (1) as a heart
patient. On April 3, I got admitted for some investigations and was
discharged on April 6. I was asked to get admitted again on April 17.
Dr. Amarasena performed my surgery on April 30. He is very smart,
energetic, efficient and dedicated to his services. I learnt from
hospital sources that the operation theatre is not equipped with modern
surgical apparatus. This is a drawback in the performance of surgeries
in the hospital. In ward 26 (1) Dr. Amarasena has a devoted and faithful
team of assistants. Their service must be admired. The nurses are kind,
polite and friendly with the patients. They deserve a bouquet for their
dedicated service. The attendants too perform an admirable service. May
the Triple Gem and the Almighty God bless Dr. Amarasena and his staff!
D. A. De Silva
A troop of about 15 to 20 monkeys are in the habit of raiding home
gardens in the Kaluwadummulla village in the Ambalangoda UC area.
The damage done by these monkeys is immense. These monkeys jump from
one roof to the another damaging the tiles. When they jump onto plastic
or fibre glass sheets they get badly damaged and have to be replaced.
Some monkeys even creep into houses and remove food items.
Householders are forced to keep their windows closed until the
monkeys move on. These monkeys do not spare any fruit trees such as
papaw, mango, rambutan, avacado and jak. Even arecanut trees in bearing
and coconut flowers are not spared. Leaves of some flower plants are
also eaten by them.
The damage caused to home gardens is immense. The concept of Api
Wawamu Rata Nagamu cannot be observed unless positive action is taken by
the Wild Life Department immediately, to trap and release these monkeys
into the jungles.
Ratepayers of the Ambalangoda area appeal to the authorities to take
early action to rid the area of the monkey menace.
Lionel L. Leanage
The Peelladola tank in Nawimana South in Matara built by the
government a long time ago, was well maintained and long well-managed
under the supervision of the relevant authorities. In the past, farmers
of this village reaped rich harvests from an extension of 60 acre paddy
fields with the water supply from this tank. But today sadly, farmers
face many problems as they are unable to get adequate water for their
cultivations from this tank.
The bund of this tank is in a dilapidated condition with cracks and
crevices. The water outlets of this tank are silted and the water supply
is almost blocked and interrupted due to the negligence over a period of
years. I kindly request the relevant authorities to take necessary and
immediate action to renevote this tank which supplies water to farmers
of this village whose main livilihood is paddy cultivation.
Amarasena Kodituwakku
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