Water has no substitute

The Non Communicable Disease Unit of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition & Indigenous Medicine has commenced to broadcast over the radio a communique which lays emphasis on the worthy fact that pure water has no equal as a drink or a substitute and the health dangers that are caused by artificial drinks.

Broadcasting this sort of good communiques is apt and praiseworthy at a time most of the Sri Lankan consumers have got carried away by eye-catching and dazzling advertisements which promote artificial foods and drinks without taking any notice of the harmful nature of such food and drink.

Sri Lankan people who quenched their thirst with natural, tasty and healthy drinks such as King Coconut water for millennia are moving away from such fine drinks to opt artificial drinks having been pitifully deceived by commercial advertisements. This sad situation creates not only health issues but impacts the country’s economy adversely.

We hope the Ministry of Health will continue such good work considering them as a prime duty, towards educating the people through communiqués etc. covering other aspects as well concerning artificial drinks and foods.

N.A.A.P.K. Nedurana
Waga

Digitalization of People’s Bank

I am a retired civil servant who has been banking with the People’s Bank for the past 30 years. During this time, I have encountered issues relating to customer service, however these issues have been dealt with accordingly and I continue to carry out my banking transactions with the Bank to date.

The open economy that prevailed post 1977, allowed various foreign banks to come in and compete with existing local Banks. These banks successfully managed to draw away account holders from our Banks with their management practices and technological advancements. Affected by this the most, national banks, namely, People’s Bank, deployed various improvements to go compete with these banks.

With a rich history of 55 years, an asset base of Rs. 1 trillion, People’s Bank is currently the second largest National Bank in the country. The Bank’s noteworthy achievements include securing 16 million local account holders, of a population of 20 million. I have also read numerous media reports over the years on how the Bank, made up of 23 SME centers and a network of some 740 branches, goes from strength to strength each year in their service offering both in terms of customer service and efficiency. And it was clear that Digitalization was a key focus for the Bank in the recent past. It is my belief as well that in order for the Bank to keep abreast of technological advancements and competition while providing speedier services to their customer base and ultimately uplifting the economy, modernization is absolutely vital.

It is evident from current false accusations and personal mud-slinging in the media that competitors and non-civic minded parties with vested interests do not want to see the fruition of this project. Accusations were levelled against the digitalization program that was launched to positively impact customers both here and abroad, even before the project could take off.

If there was a lapse or violation of the procurement process, shouldn’t there be a call for a report from the Auditor General and a report on the independent findings of the Internal Audit Department?

Those who would rather carry out distasteful campaigns in the media rather than finding out if the procurement process was transparent should be revealed publicly. It is important to create awareness among the public about those who are behind this and their narrow minded agenda’s.

I put together these thoughts as a concerned citizen, who has the utmost faith in governmental organisations, and implore the Government or Ministry to shed light on this so called conspiracy that is created to fool the public. I believe it is our duty and responsibility to protect the People’s Bank.

Sachithra Wijebandara