|
|
|
  |
| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Letters |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
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. HILAC prices My family doctor prescribed a syrup called HILAC Lactulose Syrup for Chronic constipation, imported by State Pharmaceutical Corporation. I bought a bottle of syrup on 29.1.2004 for Rs. 127 and again I went to buy the same syrup on 7.2.2004 and the price was Rs. 173. It is very unfair to increase Rs. 46 at once. How can the poor people afford to buy cheap drugs from the State Pharmaceutical Corporation. T. B. L. Pieris, Moratuwa. Pension arrears - Health Department Though one year has lapsed, a large number of Health Department officers have not yet received their pension arrears. Some negligent, lethargic officials of the Health Dept. must take the sole blame. Like trade unions, we cannot strike for our rights. We would like to receive these arrears before we die. Microbe. No transparency in CPPS hearing I refer to a notice by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission signed by its Director General, Aruna Amarasekera, published in your newspaper recently under 'Public Hearing on Tariff for Calling Party Pays System'. It is clear that the mindset of the Commission and its staff is for the Calling Party Pays System, particularly when the heading of the notice and the points on which submissions are invited intends the examination of the tariff aspect only. This hearing is conducted pursuant to a Court decision. It must be conducted in an unbiased manner examining every aspect of the system. The notice does not indicate who are sitting in the committee. If it consists of entirely of the staff of the Commission, a vast majority of it are the staff of the Commission then the credibility of its findings are at stake. Sriyani Gunatilake, Gampaha. A coast guard service Hillocks jutting out to the sea as seen intact within one or two miles or even in a lesser distance right round the coast line reminds about the suitability of these locations for future coast guard personnel and their service activities as follows: scanning the sea with binoculars for any distress signal or message from any craft, warning the people around by a manually or electrically operated siren alarm, relaying other messages received in connection with surveillance on enemy pirate or illegal fishing to Police, Divisional Secretaries and Fisheries authorities, etc. Y. Amerasen de Silva, Ahungalla. Retired Foresters to assist - Shelterbelts Since my note on the urgent need to establish broad, dense shelterbelts of varied species on the sand dunes and sandy shores of Lanka was published, some people are advocating getting foreign experts and International Environmental NGOs to do the job. The Forest Department and local NGOs are capable of doing the planting. Shelterbelts have to be well designed, strategically located and planted with proven site specific tree and shrub species including of course all mangrove species. To make it still cheaper retired Foresters at all levels with wide local experience of knowing what, how and where to plant on shores and sand dunes and who are still active could be harnessed for the job. Shelterbelts strategically located would not only mitigate the adverse impacts of wind and water on human dwellings and human lives but they would have an aesthetic appeal as well and also an economic benefit as has been demonstrated in other countries. The address of the "Society of Retired Foresters" is no. 147/8, Dharmasoka Mawatha, Lewella, Kandy. Concerned citizen. A monthly broadsheet for tsunami aid There has been no true knowledge among people who after all matter the most, of the volumes and natures of International Aid. The purpose of the aid itself have seen confusion, even duplication and non-use. The government must display a monthly broadsheet in all newspapers, containing the state of fundings, their sources, natures, disbursements and overall co-ordination in a grand table addressed to the people of the country, and as implementing guide to the government, right down to the lowest government installations for the next phase. Prof. C. Suriyakumaran, Colombo 3. Bank loans - where is the relief? Commercial Banks when granting credit facilities over the security of mortgage of immovable property are legally empowered to auction the property under Parate Execution if the facility goes bad. They recover all dues upto the last cent including the interest, capital, legal and auctioner's charges. They claim they have to obtain Monitory Board approval on a case by case basis to grant any concession on the interest due. According to my knowledge there is no such regulation by the Central Bank or the Monitory Board. Suppose a business is run by a father who is the Chairman and the Managing Director of a limited liability company, and the other directors are his wife, daughter and son who are clueless in business matters solely handled by their father. They will be unable to handle the business profitably. Further, if the children are students residing overseas and their father dies at a comparatively young age of 52 years. If a request for a waiver of a fraction of the interest is made by the widow such a request should be favourably considered. Mervyn Herath, Ragama. Relief to Banda Aceh from us Sri Lanka should send a consignment of tea to victims of the tsunami in Banda Aceh, the worst affected region of the tsunami. The answer is that we Sri Lankans have portrayed to the world through this disaster that we are accustomed to relieving the suffering of others, even when we are ourselves in distress. This phenomena was boldly reflected when many of the local victims of the tsunami in the coastal belt went to the assistance of the foreign tourists who were holidaying in Sri Lanka, even at the expense of their own suffering. We Sri Lankans are renowned for our hospitality and this virtue reflected during the period of crisis speaks volumes of the Sri Lankan psyche, and also gave the world a wonderful image of our country, especially in Europe and the US. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security | Produced by Lake House |
