The Kohuwala - Piliyandala Road was widened about 10 years ago with
lands acquired under Gazette Notification.At the time of this
development the residents were informed that the bends in the road will
be straightened.
Now this road is to be widened again. When these development plans
were rumoured, the undersigned together with a neighbour called at R.D.A
Planning Office, where the subject of widening was confirmed. The
officer in charge of the subject categorically informed us that the road
is to be widened and equal extents of land will be acquired from either
side of road. In fact he even showed us the plans.
However now the R.D.A had done the markings on lands that affected by
the road widening and to our surprise some land markings for acquisition
is three metres where as on others as much as eight metres. We feel this
is very unfair on the part of the U.D.A. as this particular road has no
deep bends and they were attended to at the last road widening.
Therefore this appeal is made to the Minister in charge and the
senior officers at the R.D.A. to look into this matter and acquire
whatever lands needed equally from both sides of the road and see that
transparency is maintained.
G. Prathapasinghe
The present mode of settlement of E.P.F. defaulters is to calculate
20 per cent of the total salary and pay the employee, with a surcharge
of 50 per cent to the Labour Department. Yearly interest is not
calculated and given to the employees The accumulated yearly interest is
a part and parcel of the E.P.F.
The interest surpass es the quantum of 20 per cent salary during a
short period of years. By this sort of settlement, the employers are
encouraged not to pay the 20 per cent joint contributions to the Central
Bank. The employer can utilise this money in fixed deposits and earn 15
to 16 per cent interest or plough back in his business and make more
money.
If a settlement crops up on default he can easily pay the 20 per cent
and surcharge and he is up on the deal. Amendments should be brought to
remedy this situation by calculating the yearly compound interest at the
rates declared by the panel members and make the employer liable.
By this the penalty will go up, an additional income will accrue to
the Labour Department and the employer is bound to pay the contributions
to the Central Bank.
S. M. Wickramasekera
The meaning given to the word "silencer" in the Oxford English
Dictionary is "a device for reducing the noise made by a gun or in the
exhaust system of an engine." During the process of making power in an
engine huge detonations occur with huge noises inside its cylinders. The
responsibility of the silencer is to minimise the inconvenience that
occurs with these noises to the passengers, bystanders and to the fellow
drivers on the road.
But nowadays it seems silencers of most of the passenger buses in our
country do not minimise the noises made by the engines. It is not that
they are malfunctioning but they are modified to run with a roaring
noise. It has become a way used by the young drivers to attract the
attention to their buses.
They don't seem to realise the inconvenience they are causing the
passengers of their buses, to the bystanders and to the fellow drivers
on the road, because they are running with a fantasised mood with the so
called mod songs sung by some male singers with female voices. Anyway as
there's no one to control the quality of the music in public buses we
have to accept to live with that if you are going to use public
transport.
Apart from this nonsense the horns fitted with most of these vehicles
have piercing sounds similar to sirens which too are an inconvenience to
the passengers, bystanders and the fellow drivers.
This is only an eye opener to the relevant authorities to act
regarding this roaring menace of these vehicles before they begin to run
on the roads without the complete silencer.
M. R. M. K. Munasinghe
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