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| Sunday, 28 September 2003 |
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Letters |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
Nothing to lose but their chains The elephant is undeniably a unique national heritage in our country but it is regretful to note that it has become a victim of influential people playing Russian roulette with its survival. For some people owning an elephant has become a status symbol and a boost to their prestige. Others keep elephants as they add glamour to cultural and social events. Whatever the motive is, these owners of captive elephants are guilty of violating the rights of these majestic animals as very often they are kept in most inhumane conditions. They are chained most of the time with very little freedom of mobility and as Kala Santha had mentioned in this column some time back, several have faced agonising deaths when their chains had been struck by lightning. Very often the animals are beaten into submission by their keepers. These gentle giants owned by institutions and individuals are very often subjected to most inhumane lifestyles totally alien to lifestyles in their natural habitats. They are made to walk on the burning sand to earn money from tourists; They are forced to perform for spectators who gleefully applaud when they witness the gyrations of these huge animals performed on the orders of their keepers and controlled by the goad. They are paraded in processions gaily caparisoned at all times of the day with very little thought to their comfort and welfare. The onlookers and the owners are blind to the misery that these animals are often subjected to. Owners bemoan the fact that their elephants are ageing and that the numbers are dwindling. Ageing cannot be prevented as it is a natural process and breeding is limited when the living conditions in captivity are not conducive to breeding. Our wild elephants are being killed at an alarming rate and the best way to conserve these animals is to keep them in places like Pinnawela where they are not beaten into submission and where they are free to move about though in captivity. If necessary some of them could be released temporarily to take part in processions to appease those who think that elephants are indispensable at such processions or other similar cultural events. Bringing elephants from India will only subject those animals to the same cruel fate of our animals. It's a pity that our pachyderms in captivity are not familiar with Marx. If not, they will take a cue from him and trumpet in unison, "Elephants in captivity unite ! We have nothing to lose but our chains !" Mirelle Jayawardena, Moratuwa I have been a customer of the National Savings Bank for a long period. Being self-employed I started to deposit. What little I could save from my meagre income in my savings account of the National Savings Bank so that I could have some form of income by way of interest during the last years of my life. I chose the National Savings Bank for two good reasons; it is a state bank, and because it offered good interest rates at that time. The interest rate has dwindled to a trickle in recently times. However the recent decision of the Bank's new management to offer an insurance cover to the customers has perturbed me, as we the customers are not informed of the amount the Bank will have to incur by way of premium to cover all its customers and the choice of a private insurer instead of a state sponsored insurer. It exposes all customers to a big risk like those of a private bank as happened recently. The incentives offered earlier to encourage customers to deposit their money in the National Savings Bank was more acceptable as the customers were aware of the benefits they would be entitled to irrespective of their age. The new scheme of Insurance benefit only certain customers (being those between the ages of eighteen and seventy). What will happen to a customer on whose behalf the Bank pays a premium for several years and he passes the age of 70? Will the insurer be repaid the premium paid on his behalf during that period to the customer? I hope the Central Bank the guardian of all Banks will probe this matter and enlighten the customers of the correct position and take remedial steps if necessary. Anxious Customer In a society of rapidly deteriorating human values, where the urge for power and wealth override all other norms of social ethics, crime has escalated in leaps and bounds, most significantly since June 1976, when death sentences imposed on criminals convicted by Courts have been committed to life imprisonment in lieu of hanging, despite the fact that the law of capital punishment has not been expunged from Sri Lanka's Statute Books. The last convict executed was Embilipitiya Chandradasa alias Hondapapuwa on June 22, 1976 according to Prison statistics. The laxity of the law is such that we often witness convicts walk out of the Courts in the company of their lawyers, smiling knowing well that their chances of being hanged are very remote and they could have a homely rest with free food and lodging at the expense of the poor rate-payer also enjoying special privileges with the blessings of certain politicians involved and the courtesy of certain Prison officials. We have seen on the media the number of Celtel phones and the currency notes detected in their possession recently. History has it, that even during the times when Buddhism flourished in our country, the death penalty had been in force on hardcore criminals but in various ways and with the crime rate low, this country was referred to as "Dharmaddhipaya" - a just and righteous Society. Under our existing Law system, death sentences are even sometimes reduced to an insignificant period of 7 to 10 years imprisonment. Once these criminals are let loose, they become a worse potential danger to our Society. Hence life sentences are no threats to these criminals.It is regrettable to note that there is pressure from certain Parliamentarians and Civil Rights movements opposing the re-implementation of capital punishment, Why can't they realise that these perpetrators of such heinous crimes have no right to take another's life ? Do they realise the fact that they too deserve the punishment with the same magnitude and severity of the crime they had committed ? Why can't our so-called Representatives of the People (our Honourable M.PP) realise they are duty-bound to allow the LAW to deal with these criminals with the appropriate punishment without tinkering with the Law Agencies. Why are they so much concerned to safeguard the offenders and rehabilitate them and not the least concerned about the victims and their kith and kin ? "Nobody fears prison as much as death" said Earnest Van Den Haag Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy of Fordham University. Hence it is but my humble personal view that capital punishment would be the most effective deterrent to curb crime and keep the scales of justice balanced. If Justice is not executed and these criminals not punished in keeping with the verdict of the courts, it would tantamount to a mockery of justice. If our Parliamentarians on both sides are unable to arrive at an unanimous decision to bring back the hangman, let this issue be put to the people at a referendum, in which event, it is very likely there would be an overwhelming vote in favour of re-introduction of death penalty, since there is an Island-wide cry by all peace-loving citizens of this land. Let us hope that our genial Minister of Justice would re-focus his attention on this grave situation and take suitable measures. Don Sarath Abeysekera, Bandarawela Importance of English medium education At present in Sri Lanka, the government sector has very few employment opportunities. The private sector opens many avenues of employment, but these are limited to individuals with an excellent command of the English language. Therefore many talented, educated youths are deprived of better employment due to their poor communication skills. To overcome such barriers and pave way for the youths to pursue their higher studies without difficulty as well as pave them the way to seek better employment opportunities the present government introduced English education two years ago. At present 168 schools in the country follow the English medium curriculum. Being a graduate of the University of Peradeniya and at present conducting classes in the English medium for students I feel that the students in our government schools (who have studied in the Sinhala medium upto grade 6) are very talented. Within a few months they have grasped their studies and are very good in their communication skills. But there are certain obstacles in promoting the English medium education. For instance, the grade seven text books. The funds are insufficient to print these text books. As a result many schools have not got these text books and students face a lot of difficulties due to the scarcity or unavailability of these books. Therefore I like to appeal to the President, Prime Minister and the Minister of Education to look into these problems and provide sufficient funds for the welfare of students. Chandima Jeevendra, Gampaha On August 31, my fiancee and I were travelling in a trishaw towards Kiribathgoda around 5.00 pm. while we were travelling some police officers stopped the trishaw. One officer asked us to get down from the trishaw and started questioning us unnecessarily and embarrassed us in foul language. I told the police officers that both of us were going to the supermarket and also explained our position, but none of them gave a hearing for my say, but they purposely started fabricating a false story that I am lying and the person accompanied me was not my fiancee but a prostitute and I was going to a nearby hotel, and also we were told by them that we will be charged and be produced in courts, and if we are to be released we may have to pay them a reasonable amount as bribe. At this stage I started arguing with the said police officers that my fiancee and I are genuine and innocent and not committed any offence as fabricated by them and even though the policemen have no legal right to charge us on the spot or to demand for a bribe, that is a matter left to a court of law. Finally the officer forcibly took our identity cards and the driver of the trishaw was also requested to come to the police station. We were kept at the police station till about 8.00 p.m. and at last the said officer came to us and threatened in filth at the police station also and that we would be put inside the cell and will be produced in courts only tomorrow under Public Nuisance and Brothel Act. The same officer also told us that we could be released even now without framing any charges provided a reasonable sum was given to him as bribe. In our lifetime we have not stepped into any police station for committing any offence neither to make any statement in support of any offences committed by others. Therefore both of us felt ashamed to be inside the police station and arguing and bargaining with these type of corrupted police officers for no reason. At this stage I just paid a sum of Rs. 400 to the PC and then we were given back our identity cards and we were allowed to leave the police station immediately. It was hilarious to notice that when this incident took place the OIC (Crimes) was seated at his desk. But I do not know if he heard the conversation and the financial transaction that took place between us and said PC Herath - 17788 and other police officers. I do not know whether he was pretending to be deaf and blind about this incident. If these police officers act in this way, what would be the situation of the people who live in North and East.I have already written to Interior Minister John Amaratunga regarding the above incident. P. Johnson, Colombo - 15 Should abortion be legalized - a response This is in response to the article by Dulamani Namaratna published in Sunday Observer of August 31. This is a very controversial issue and it would probably draw the attention of many readers because there are many views for and against it. Being a pre intern of medicine I would like to shed some light on various aspects of abortion. Abortion can be broadly categorised into two groups viz - natural - artificial which is again divided into 2 groups; legal (justifiable) and criminal.Natural abortion is inevitable. Legal abortion, is when performed in accordance with legal provision. Criminal abortion, is when performed with the criminal intention to get rid of the products of conception. According to Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971 of India abortion is accepted on the following grounds. Therapeutic, humanitarian, eugenic and social. Therapeutic - when continuation of pregnancy is dangerous to the life of the mother. Eugenic - when continuation of pregnancy is dangerous to the life of the foetus. Social - pregnancy in a married woman due to contraceptive failure or if the environment of the pregnant woman does seem to threaten/harm the life of the mother. Humanitarian - pregnancy as a result of rape. There are disadvantages of legal abortions also as girls becoming pregnant outside marriage will also tend to abort. D. Murthy 'Dengue or mosquito control' - a response This is in response to the above letter which appeared in the Sunday Observer of Sep. 7. I wish to deny that I have carried out any dengue control programme with WHO financial or logistic support. It is a commonly known fact among health professionals that WHO is an accepted authority regarding health issues. In March 2000, I decided that a segregated approach which was in practice for the control of filaria and dengue needed to be amalgamated and called, as the mosquito control programme of the Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council. I have announced this strategy at many a local forum and I am happy to say that the only other person whom I have come across who has the same concept is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the Colombo University who has also expressed the same view at the National Dengue Task Force Meetings. I would like to proudly state that we at the Public Health Department of the CMC have been one of the pioneers in adopting a multi-sectoral approach to tackle many a health problem facing the communities within the city of Colombo. This is nothing new to us. The birth of the 'Green Star Home Project' to prevent dengue and filariasis in the city is one such project besides other campaigns such as the mass polio campaign. Our educational materials are designed specifically to suit the local requirements in all three languages and have always taken prompt action to destroy all mosquito breeding sites". This has resulted in us having tackled the problem of vector and nuisance mosquitoes at the same time. We have had the support of the community at large, the non governmental organisations, private sector organizations. Scouts Association and many politicians including the Mayor of Colombo. We have now launched a new project called the 'Green Settlement' which prevents the dumping of garbage in canals as this would lead to blocked canal system which would result in mosquito breeding. Unfortunately, I have had no recourse to the Martinique communique as stated in this article. My team of dedicated staff have adopted approaches in keeping with the ground situation and the realities of today. Majority of these recommendations coincide with the experts' recommendations. But the modifications carried out by us to suit the local requirements have turned out to be extremely effective and efficient. The WHO has supported many other institutions in the past with experts, funding, training and fellowships. But to date none of those methods have either been implemented or if implemented shown any tangible results so far. I would like to state that my department has not been supplied with the essentials of funding, training, fellowships and experts in this regard to date as stated by the writer. The CMC has been successful in the program of dengue outbreaks within the city of Colombo. In short we have achieved a 16% decline last year when most of the other areas in the country had shown large increases. This year there is a 30% decrease of cases. We believe that if dengue is controlled in the city it would not be a difficult task to control it in the other parts of the country. The UNCHS has seen the value of our Green Star program and has adopted it as one of the best practices in the region and is seriously advocating it to other interested organisations who believe in the multi-sectoral approach to the health problems of today. This programme was chosen as the leading best practice at the Asian Mayor's Forum held in Bangkok. Thailand last year. Also, the WHO Kobe has documented this program in their cities and health journal after the Mayor of Colombo presented it at a meeting in Canada. I feel that "this Public Health Consultant" is afraid that the recognition received by the Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council is a threat to him/her and all other "arm chair" public health consultants who have lived in a world of their own and because of their euphoric ideas that we have to deal with these problems today. Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Colombo Municipal Council. Road Development Authority has done everything possible to widen the main highways within the available ground space to accommodate the increasing traffic flow. Traffic police perform their best to maintain a danger free traffic environment along the main highways. Yet, it is well understood that roads are not safe for motorists as well as the pedestrians. Police reports reveal that most of the accidents have occurred during the peak hours in the morning and evening due to the congested traffic system. It is not possible to ease the huge traffic congestions within the frame of present working and school hours. It is a well-known fact that more than 10,000 heavy and light vehicles ply on four main highways from Matara, Kandy, Avissawella and Chilaw to Colombo in the morning and late evening during working days. In addition, about 3000 three wheelers including motor cycles join the fleet adding to more congestions. Private vehicles carrying schoolchildren commence their journeys early in the morning from different stations to reach destinations in Colombo and suburbs before schools start at 8.00 a.m. and park their vehicles by the side of roads until 1.00 p.m. C.T.B. and private buses begin their daily routine trips with employees and other passengers from various places to reach Colombo before 8.30 a.m. Same number of vehicles leave the city in the evening. If the concerned authorities make necessary arrangements to regulate the working and schooling hour system into different categories as shown below, a better traffic network without much congestions could be introduced. Working hours: Private sector - 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., Govt sector - 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.. Schooling hours: Primary schools - 8.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., Secondary schools - 9.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. According to this methodical pattern, vehicles carrying school children and employees will operate at four different time schedules to reach Colombo and suburbs allowing more room to drive, ride and walk on roads. It is the general feeling of the road users that errant bus drivers do not care the prevailing traffic law and the highway code at all. They stop buses everywhere on roads as they wish to collect commuters making more and more congestions. I believe that if the traffic police pay much attention on this bad practice of the private bus drivers congestions could be minimised to a great extent. The other dangerous obstacle is the pedestrian crossing. There are many crossing lines which have been marked at unsuitable places like bends, few yards ahead of bus halts and crowded streets. Motorists and pedestrians cannot see each other at these places. I hope the Road Development Authority will correct these mishaps soon. Mahinda Perera, Moratuwa |
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