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| Sunday, 6 June 2004 |
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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. I am a rubber plantation small holder in the suburbs of Colombo. The announcement by the Minister of Finance through the state media to say that the price of urea is reduced by Rs. 200 was much appreciated. Towards the end of April, one day I telephoned the agrarian services distribution centre at Malabe. My call was answered by a person who said that the price of a bag of 50 kg of urea remained at Rs. 850 (the old price). The reason given was that no circular was received from the head office informing the reduction in price. When asked as to who was speaking at that end, the answer was that he is the person who weighs the fertilizer at the storehouse. (Of course to give due credit to him, he was polite and refined in his conversation). He further stated that there were no other responsible persons at that moment in office to answer my query. The time now was around 9.30 a.m.! I telephoned again in May. It was in the late morning hours. A lady claimed to be a clerical hand answered my call and told me that urea is sold at the old price and it will be so until a circular is sent from the top informing the reduction in price. Then, at the beginning of second week of May I called again. This time the telephone was answered by the OIC at the centre. She called herself the Divisional officer and spoke to me in an absolute callous and negative manner. Once again it was the same old story of the non receipt of the circular, and that the price remained at Rs. 850 for a pack of 50 kg urea! Once again during the latter part of second week of May, I phoned the Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian services, at Deans Road, Colombo 10. According to him instructions have been given to all the distribution centres coming within its preview, including Malabe, to go by the policy of the new government and to issue urea at the reduced price. Subsequently I met this officer concerned personally. He mentioned that all the centres in the Colombo district (except the one at Malabe) have carried out his instructions accordingly. By now it was coming onto the third week, and the ordeal continues gathering momentum! At the beginning of third week of May, I have now reached a situation where I thought "enough is enough!" In fact by now the due date to put fertilizer to the trees had already lapsed by about 3 weeks. I was compelled therefore (reluctantly even) to contact a leading private sector company. My fertilizer requirement inclusive of urea was readily available with them and they ensured the delivery to my doorstep on a nominal transportation charge. The price quoted for a 50 kg bag of urea was Rs. 550! By now I would have incurred around Rs 300 on telephone calls alone. Thanks to the bureaucracy at the Malabe distribution centre. In the meantime the company concerned delivered the fertilizer at my doorstep within 48 hours notice. Can the behaviour of the bureaucracy at Malabe be an act of sabotage to bring the newly elected government into disrepute? After all the price of fertilizer was a key issue at the elections held recently. If that is not the case, then can it be the absolute lethargy, negligence and inefficiency of the officialdom at Malabe, which is the cause of harassment of the small time rubber farmers? Agriculture, Livestock, Irrigation and Lands Minister should immediately call for an inquiry and bring to book the bureaucratic and errant culprits. M. I. Gunewardene - Colombo 10. Nation full of empty words We are a nation full of empty words. At the drop of a hat, so to speak we are capable of glorifying, particularly the politicians who are no more. We are gifted with the ability of delivering funeral orations, whether the dead has aided and abetted in good or bad is immaterial. To us to celebrate birth and death anniversaries, is a simple matter. To raise and garland statues, to rename roads and institutions after these dead persons, immaterial, of the principles and beliefs, and whether any of these persons were productive or destructive don't seem to matter. Without desecrating the dead, can we not leave their name and memory alone, without pretending to glorify their lives that have caused untold misery and grief to the majority of the Nation? Walter Fernando - Ratmalana. Some proposals for Constitutional Reforms Our top priority should be to provide for urgent legislative measures to enable the persisting core issues to be settled with the LTTE, the other organisations and individuals for arriving at a durable and stable peace. Simultaneous steps will have to be taken to put the economy on a sound footing in the long-term. In the present milieu it is politic to retain the executive Presidency for some considerable time to deal with effectively the immediate and future challenges which are bound to be of a complex nature, compounded by lack of any likely consensus on the part of our law-makers. The retaining of the Executive Presidency should be subject to a few amendments to be made to the law for slashing certain immunities attached to the Presidency. For instance, the immunity of the President shielding him/her against the institution or continuation of proceedings in any court or tribunal in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in his/her official or private capacity, should be annulled except in respect of bona fide action or omission of action on the part of the President in his/her official capacity in the exercise, performance and discharge of powers, duties and functions. This course of action is warranted in view of the obnoxious and perverse features that have raised their ugly heads due to the utter mishandling and malfunctioning of the political party system in this country. It is strongly recommended that the law should be amended to make it mandatory for the executive President to be aloof from partisan political activities during the tenure of office as President. The system of proportional representation has resulted in many electorates being left in the lurch without sufficient access to an MP. The existing system should be dispensed with multi-member constituencies to accommodate minority interests. People must be given the opportunity of voting for candidates on the basis of their merits disregarding party labels. D. Kuruneru - Moratuwa. Insurance - revised fire tariff According to a press release in the Sunday Observer of May 23, the Sri Lanka Insurance Brokers Association wants the revised fire tariff stopped. Though there is a tariff at present lot of Insurance Companies violate it. Undercutting is going on in a very big way. When a broker or an agent introduce a big business, some companies contact the client direct at the next renewal and offer the client free alight perils and go to an extent of giving the Brokers Commission back to the client, some jumps at this without considering the service they get from the broker or agent. The existing practice is the fixed Tariff rates should be applied if the insured value is less than Rs. 300,000,000 but most of the companies violate this by ignoring the Tariff and give arbitarory quotations as they want. Some companies get the client to make the sum insured more than Rs. 300,000,000 although it is very much less as they can give a lower rate as the tariff does not apply to such cases, and easily grab the business. According to the insurance law the client should provide the accurate values and in the case of a claim if it is proved that the values are not correct, the insured will have to face a big problem. According to the law this value of Rs. 300,000,000 should be in one location. But I know of cases where they have come upto this value by combining the values in two or three locations owned by the same company. This is a very serious violation. But the controller or the Insurance Board have done nothing so far to stop this type of malpractices. I have reported this type of violations to the controller of insurance and also to the Finance Ministry with proof, about three years back but failed to get it corrected. A factory that I have been handling for over ten years whose value was Rs. 2,65,000,000 used to pay a premium of nearly Rs. 1,200,000 covering fire and other alight perils, loss of profit cash in transit and electronics cover to Eagle Insurance Co. Ltd., was taken away by the National Insurance Corporation who submitted the original quotation at the correct rates to me and by submitting another quotation almost half of this amount through a newly formed brokering Company. When I reported this matter it was taken up at the monthly technical committee meetings as well as the monthly ex-co meetings in 1991, but nothing happened, and the investigations dragged on till the next renewals and died a natural death without any explanation or rectification. What I cannot understand is these companies quote very low rates as 04 and charge afire premium of about Rs. 120,000.00 to cover a risk of Rs. 300,000,000, but if there is a claim of even Rs. 1,000,000 how are they going to pay. Will the re-insurers accept the liability or is it that the local company do this at their own risk without re-insurance cover. I suggest the insurance Board to make it compulsory to all the companies, to give the re-insurance details including the name of the re-insurer and the amount re-insured in the policy document or in the renewal endorsement. Further I read an article published in the Sunday Leader of May 23 by a Consultant Insurance adviser S.I. Fernando, who has denied that the rates have been increased by a huge percentage, but they are trying to regularise the tariff, He has admitted that after privatisation in 1988 increasing number of companies started undercutting tariff rates in order to increase business. By this these companies do not give a correct guidance to the client but they dupe the client for their benefit, I hope at least now the new insurance Board and the Finance Ministry will have periodical checks on all the Insurance Companies and put an end to this type of dirty malpractices. Nandu Fernando - Ratmalana Dehiwala canal - a national treasure If any other country had Dehiwala canal, it would have been considered a country heritage and would have made millions through tourism. In other countries, such canals are maintained, clean with flowerbeds on the bank, and open for boat riding. Ours is the curse of the city, with garbage dumped non-stop providing a permanent birth place for the mosquitoes, no wonder Dehiwala is rampant with dengue. If the banks are built up with protective railings along it, even the shanty dwellers will stop throwing their garbage in The shanties, must either be shifted elsewhere or the Government could put up dwellings in a planned manner, with proper water supply and garbage disposal system so that it can look picturesque. Yes, it is going to cost millions, but a fewer number of vehicles to the politicians would do the trick! Dr. (Mrs) Mareena Thaha Reffai - Dehiwala. Concessions to expatriate workers There are about 3 to 4 million of Sri Lankans employed in various skilled and unskilled categories in the Middle East and of them there are a considerable percentage of poor Sri Lankan women who are employed as housemaids or nannies. Most of them have been made to pay exorbitant charges to recruitment agencies. Besides they have to pay around Rs. 11,000 to the Foreign Bureau of Employment before leaving the country and this is only for a two-year renewable period. Most of them are working and living in unsatisfactory surroundings with very poor facilities. Most of them probably do not get a chance to see their loved ones at home for long periods and they suffer a lot mentally and physically. Foreign currency earnings by the expatriate workers are only second to tea export earnings. The colourful brochures of NRFC accounts and the promises of the banking sector were the only hope of the Account holders until they reach the bank after their foreign job contract to realize the dream is blown in front of their own eyes. Despite the meagre interest of 1% the banks are offering the foreign worker expects a helping hand from the bank after his foreign employment. Due to the unfriendly attitude of the banking sector most foreign workers tends to send their hard-earned foreign currency to their families through black marketers paying exorbitant exchange rates. Thus the much needed foreign exchange to the country very easily fall in to the hand of the black marketers and goes down as black money. For the savings and fixed deposits the local banks pay nowadays an interest around 6% and 11% respectively but why are the earners who are doing a yeoman service by sending their hard-earned invaluable foreign currency to their NRFC accounts are paid with a meagre interest of 1% only. Sometime back the expatriate workers who send their money to the country through the proper channels were given a permit to import a vehicle but this concession too now have been ceased. M. R. M. K. Munasinghe - Dyncorp, Qatar. Travel by minibus - an unforgettable experience It was a bright morning. Young men and women were hurrying to reach their places of work and children their schools. Since I too had some work to attend to in Jaffna town, a distance of 22 miles, I found my way to a popular bus halt to board a bus. I always prefer to travel by buses belonging to the NRTB (Northern Regional Transport Board) as they are spacious inside and one could even stand in comfort. However, although I waited at the halt for more than half an hour, there wasn't a bus in sight. I had to be in the town by a particular time and therefore I decided, with much reluctance, to board a private minibus. As I got in, the conductor shouted, as usual, to move to the back of the bus. I moved and moved till I got to the very rear. Inside, it was jam-packed with passengers. I was standing holding the bar above my head with one hand. There was a young lady standing right in front of me. Every time the bus jerked or suddenly reduced speed, I almost bumped against the lady much to my disgust. It was an involuntary movement of mine but it attracted a sharp glare from the lady every time it happened; the frequent glare irked me, now past my three scores and ten. Therefore, I managed to persuade the young man standing immediately behind me to move forward and take the place between the young lady and me. It was very hot and most uncomfortable inside and as I continued to stand a feeling of utter misery overtook me. I wished very much that the suffering came to an end at the earliest. every now and then I bent my back to have a look outside through the glass window in order to ascertain the distance the vehicle had covered. Unfortunately, it earned for me the wrath of a young man who castigated me for pushing against him with my buttocks, which did lengthen a little backwards when I bent down. 'You are trying to peep out when it is a struggle for us to remain on our feet,' he blurted out. The young woman too joined in the rebuke. At this stage, I was holding the upper bar with both hands because my right hand with fingers already afflicted with rheumatism could not withstand the strain alone any longer. While travelling in this unenviable position I felt my trousers loosen. Since I had travelled more than three fourths of the distance I did not bother much about it. A little later young man seated at the rear tapped me on my back and pointed to my trousers. I then noticed to my utter embarrassment and surprise that the trousers were in the process of slipping down; my underwear was a jockstrap. when both hands remained raised above my head the trouser belt must have got loosened paving the way for the slide. The women seated at the rear were seen turning their faces away to hide their blushes. To me, it was an experience I could never forget. M. Thambipillai - Alvai. Bankrupt Hideki Finance and Investment Co. Though seventeen long years had come to pass with no financial relief yet received, the wrath of the depositors of the above company continues to linger in their minds towards the corrupt directors who have not only ruined the lives of the depositors but also that of their spouses. The Central Bank too is guilty as they have failed to act quickly even though legal clearance had been granted some years ago. It is learnt that court relief is to be sought once again by the Central Bank as the party in question had failed to honour the pledge given to court to settle the matter. D. S. Jayasuriya - Colombo 8. Why make a fuss over Hakeem's private life ? There can be no doubt in the minds of right thinking ordinary citizens of this country that the media coverage given to the Rauf Hakeem affair is purely for political gain and advantage of the UPFA, the UNF as well as some factions within the SLMC itself, and has nothing to do with moral concerns. Our Parliament, like our society has always had its fair share of adulterers, womanizers, etc, without barely an eyelid being raised, by the general public. So why this fuss now ? While we do not condone adultery, we strongly believe that this is a very very private matter to be resolved by Hakeem's wife and the woman concerned without the undue glare of the media. Instead, what we should be concerned about is the murders, corruption, extortion and other crimes as well as the numerous shady and fraudulent deals which can be linked to our politicians, whether Muslim, Sinhalese, or Tamil. In a country where murderers are frequently are given nominations and are reelected to political office, it seems a little bit outrageous to make such a fuss about a broken heart. We are also extremely perturbed by the response to the Hakeem Affair by leaders of the Muslim community, who are making this a religious issue. In the past few days, the media has given wide coverage to a number of Muslim leaders who have been saying 'What a shame this is for the Muslim community !' Some members of the community have even expressed the need for an inquiry to ascertain the truth of the matter, as though these things never happen within the Muslim community. They seem to have forgotten that the extra-marital affairs and the womanizing of a number of prominent Muslim politicians of the past were common knowledge among the general public. Muslims whether we like it or not are as human as any other community, and are not as pure and holy as we like to project ourselves. So why this need to feel and express the collective shame of the community over the personal peccadillo of one of its members. Is it because the Muslim community is prone to maintaining a certain ethnic secrecy about shameful happenings within the community. Take the case of violence against women within the community which is extraordinarily high; there is wife battery, gang rape of Muslim women by Muslims, incest, and rape of small children including babies, but these crimes are never spoken about by our leaders. Instead they invoke the name of Allah at every turn and cover these sins with pious masks. Let the community look at itself in the mirror. Let it stand in judgement of itself but please let it be of more pressing issues than minor peccadilloes between consenting adults. 'Muslim Women' - Nugegoda Collecting stamps is a very educative and interesting hobby. When we were children, we could collect many different Sri Lankan stamps from letters coming home over a short period. Nowadays, one sees the same stamp of Davul Drummers over and over again and hardly any other stamps. This frustrates the children since it is as difficult to collect local current stamps as foreign ones. It would be nice if the Postal Department considers this fact, and distribute equal, limited numbers of different stamps of same value to all post offices, so that all of them will be in circulation. Dr. (Mrs.) Mareena Thaha Reffai - Dehiwela. |
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