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| Sunday, 9 November 2003 |
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Letters |  |
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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.
Open letter to theTransportMinister I run about on a small mobike known here as a "Chapy." Recently this little bike broke down. I had no choice but to seek the help of your 'fantastic' public transport. Sir, you should experience this. Believe me Sir; this happens everyday and every time in all city private buses. I boarded a '154', Mt. Lavinia-Kiribathgoda private bus to get to Kadawatha. The time was 9.30 a.m. 'Cause there were seats I parked myself comfortably on one of them. Now the bus takes off after approx. 15 mts. Its speed could be compared to a bullock cart. We crawled to Dehiwala, stopped and waited for another '154' which starts later to get there. Ahh! At last it arrived, and thank god we started drawling again. By the way they love the red light, so when the green light is on the drivers accelerator leg gets paralysed and cannot do anything about the honking that goes on behind the bus, but wait for the light to turn red. Now he waits for the green so he can start crawling again. By now we stupid, or innocent passengers are feeling quite 'comfortable' in the squashing heat. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and see others doing it too. After about 20 minutes we reached 'Bamba'. Here a couple of passengers got off, had a cup of tea at the hotel near the bus stop, smoked, boarded, sat in their sweaty seats. Ahh! The other '154' came up behind us with its blaring horn which made our driver to start the crawling game once again. We did the same thing at Thummulla, Rupavahini, DS, School and in Borella. I couldn't take it anymore, the time was 10.35 (One hour and five minutes to Borella.) I asked our 'crawling' driver if I could reach Kiribathgoda before 5.00 p.m. In a very stern manner he told me to take a taxi. I took his advice, got off the bus before I got kicked off. Sir, please disguise yourself and travel in one of these private buses do what I did and you will know the suffering commuters undergo. I would guarantee that every commuter who travels in all these city buses are absolutely disgusted with the public transport system of yours. Please try to do something or else your government will definitely lose one vote, and that will be mine. Over to you Sir. Eben Norton, Mt. Lavinia. My daughter and I arrived from Sweden in this beautiful island of Sri Lanka two years ago. We find that the Sri Lankans are a nation of smiling faces, polite, hospitable and charming. But, sadly, they are also very naive and refuse to adapt themselves to suggestions when preferred by foreign nationals. For example, this burning question of providing protection for vehicles at unprotected railway level crossings has been highlighted by the media after a spate of horrific accidents causing many deaths and extensive damage to vehicles at these points due to (a) foolish and irresistible urge to get ahead of the oncoming train and (b) the vehicle drivers having imbibed too much alcohol to make a safe judgement. We remember reading a valuable bit of advice given to the Railway department in the newspapers by Maria Schumaker, a German national, urging the immediate setting up of road humps on both sides of the crossing and the erection of a warning board in large letters - 'STOP and START'. Even a drunken driver will be forced to a halt when his vehicle gets jolted by the road humps and he becomes aware of the danger from the oncoming train. This is absolutely simple commonsense. These tactics are in use in some parts of our country too and will save your Government millions of rupees as expenses to pay those manning even bamboo gates. A simple and inexpensive device ignored by high officials in the Railway department who are more keen to fleece the Government coffers by installing more elaborate mechanisms. It is this same lethargy that led to the train tragedy at Rambukkana when the Inter-city train from Kandy, driven at excessive speed, hurtled on to a paddy field with scores of innocent lives lost. I have a newspaper cutting by this same lady warning the GMR of an impending tragedy if the speed of trains was not reduced. The puerile excuse trotted out by the GMR was that the rail tracks are old and worn out. Then why, oh why, were the engine drivers NOT warned to reduce speed on the straight sections?? The GMR resigned and the train driver was sacked. But the dead could not be brought back to life! Wilma Petrosa, Denmark. Unique investment opportunity approved by SEC It was laughable to receive a circular from the subsidiary of a bankrupt quoted company, titled "Unique investment opportunity in a falling interest regime" and dated 16/9/2003 (circular attached). This particular quoted company had its shares trading at less than a rupee. Recently the company defaulted on the rescheduled payments to the debenture holders. The regulatory bodies are aware of all this. The directors involved with this company should be made to rest for sometime inside a jail. This company through its subsidiary is now offering an investment opportunity to earn a high return. Disgustingly the circular says they are approved and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka.Not a day passes now without a letter from a pensioner being published regarding their plight on reduction of interest rates. Many are capitalising on this and coaxing many gullible pensioners and others to divert their savings to the share market. Why are persons with proven track records as failures in business allowed to collect funds from the public with the approval of Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka? In this overheated stock market it seems that the interest of regulatory bodies is to see that the share indices keep climbing higher and higher. If the investors are swindled once again will the SEC make good the losses of the investors. The CEO of Frontier Research should be commended for his courage to compare our present Stock Market to a casino at a seminar of the Sri Lanka Economic Association. Sarath Fernando, Nugegoda. I read with concern several letters expressing the plight of certain senior citizens - The retired mercantile employees on the drastic reduction of interest rates on Fixed Deposits. They do not receive a monthly pension and are solely dependent on monthly interest earned on their terminal benefits and life time savings placed in Fixed Deposits. This category of senior citizens retired and aged well over 60 years appear well deserving as insolvency and destitution may step in with further threats to their well being. It is high time the Government and the Minister of Finance in particular look into their grievances by evolving a Special Fixed Deposit Scheme with a higher and a realistic rate of interest of at least 14% against the 9.7% presently being offered by the National Savings Bank. May this be looked into as a matter of urgency to avoid further threats for their well-being and existence. D.H.B.N., Maharagama. Proposals to bring discipline in the Bhikkhu Order The Report of the Presidential Commission on Buddha Sasana is out according to news reports. I' wish to recommend the implementation of the following proposals to bring discipline in the Bhikkhu Order. 1. Prevent Bhikkhus from studying subjects that lead to commercial activity or employment. The university degree or any other qualification obtained whilst in robes should not be recognised for employment except for teaching the Dhamma in schools. 2. Deny entry of Bhikkhus to lay universities to study with the laity. separate universities should be set up for the Bhikkhus as the one in Anuradhapura to enable them to study Buddhist Philosophy in depth and also to study other subjects and religions, that help missionary work and teaching of the Dhamma. 3. Higher Ordination should be limited to those with a degree from a Buddhist University and with a clean record. The Sangha Sabha should authorise Higher Ordination, which decision should be final. 4. Debar those entering the Bhikkhu Order from indulging in any business activity being engaged as 'kattadiyas', astrologers, Physicians etc. except in providing free services as in the past. 5. Make it illegal, in terms of the Vinaya Rules, for the Sangha to join political parties, engage in political activity or participate in political campaigns. 6. Make film halls, parks, playgrounds, exhibitions and other places of enjoyment, where the laity gather in numbers, out of bounds for the Sangha. 7. A member of the Sangha, accused of any criminal act, should be brought before a Sangha Sabha, headed by an Adhikarana Nayaka, and if the Sangha Sabha is convinced that there is a prima facie case against him, he should be disrobed on the orders of such Sangha Sabha, and be handed over to the Police to deal with him according to the law. The Police and a legal body could assist the Sangha Sabha, in the process. 8. A Bhikkhu in robes should not be made to appear in Courts as an accused or be placed in a police cell or remanded. 9. A Bhikkhu should not be made to give evidence even as a witness for the prosecution or defence, in open court. 10. The Sangha should speak in one voice on national issues. For the purpose there should be three separate bodies, comprising representatives of the Sangha and the Buddhist laity including legal experts. The first will examine the issue and forward its findings to a higher body which in turn will study the proposals and make its recommendations to a still higher body, which will give the final decision. That decision approved by a body of Sangha Nayakes will be made public for on behalf of the Sangha of the whole country. The Buddha Sasana Ministry could initiate action in this regard whilst the Sangha could convene a 'Sangayanaya' to arrive at conclusions over these proposals. A council for the revision of Buddhist practices should also be set up to decide on rituals and ceremonies, not in keeping with Buddhism, with a view to introduce measures to do away with such practices. Upali S. Jayasekera, Colombo 4 The myth and madness of coal power I refer to ranjith C. Dissanayake's article calling for coal-fired power and the responses to it. It has to be understood that coal, like any other fossil fuel, is a non-renewable resource at the rate and extent of its exploitation in marked contrast to hydropower which is only dependent on the water cycle, the climatic forces relieving us of even the burden of transportation. Another aspect of hydropower is its reusability in many other industries and agriculture. It takes millions of years for fossil fuels to form but there's hardly a week when there is no precipitation of the free and "gentle rain from heaven". In fact, if only we could build a ring-shaped tank at the level of the Ella gap, round the uppermost peneplain, to be fed by the slow running oxbow lakes of the Horton Plains which receives a perennial supply from both monsoons, not only could the frequent prolonged droughts of the dry zone be totally eliminated but more hydropower schemes be constructed as well. Besides, we do not have any fossil fuel resources ourselves but would be totally dependent on foreign resources with consequent overheads in massive warehouses and risks in marine transportation which itself depends on fossil fuels. If the suggestion to revert to coal power be a vestige of the colonial era, why not revert to the bullock cart age with consequent gains in foreign exchange? In point of fact, despite its sluggish motion, it is more eco-friendly too, and we need fast motion only for perishable goods with low shelf-life, for security purposes and emergencies. The absurdities of the suggestion to revert to coal-power are more numerous than can be treated in a limited media column. Dhanu Ambalangoda |
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