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| Sunday, 2 October 2005 |
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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.
In 1980s Nimal Fernando as Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer has introduced Brown Boveri microwave System of Telephone Communication, in the coast line, covering all imported stations, instead of the old control type telephone system that was working from the very inception of the Railways. Emergency bolling system (i.e. Tablet Working System) between each stations were in operative as the only signalling safety system upto 1998 from Wadduwa to MTR. It is strange and surprising how Nimal Fernando being the former Chief Signal Engineer is unaware that this system was in existence upto 1998. by Priyal de Silva, General Manager, NOTE - This correspondence is now closed. - Editor. Contractors win jobs on tender prices and work on trust. The contractor is squashed between the architect and the quantity surveyor. Their site visits are few and far between they cut and chop the rates without really knowing site conditions. To safeguard the client's interest, contractors have to provide performance bonds, guarantee bonds, etc. They have to accommodate design changes by making and breaking and does not get paid for the alterations made. Deadlines are given with no consideration of delays caused by design changes, work stoppage due to holidays, bus or train strikes. Unforeseen price escalations have to be absorbed by the contractor. Subcontractors who complete their work and vanish leaving us to patch up and paint the mess they have created. An attendance fee is paid for these. Often the quantity surveyor is unaware of what has been done. Once in possession of the house the client harasses the contractor by withholding large sums of money by looking for trivial reasons not to pay. The contractor in turn has to keep his suppliers and others waiting. Contract agreements are undervalued to avoid tax and VAT. The contractor has no hope of recovering unpaid bills. The client and the consultants should look at the contractors' dilemma and not delay checking bills and making payments for work done. by a contractor One of the grievous mistakes done by the previous UNP Govt. of Late J. R. Jayewardene was the merger of North and East provinces. This was done on a temporary basis just to please the minority Tamil Community and without considering the Sinhala/Muslim communities in Trinco and Ampara Districts. Tamil community in the East does not like to be ruled by Northern rulers as evidenced by recent incidents in the East. Government should take immediate action to separate North and East Provinces and to revert to the position existed in the past. by Rajan Devapriya, J. P. Obeysekera, the solo flyer from England to Ceylon in 1946 whose record will never be even attempted to be broken did it in a single engine aircraft refuelling at several unknown places he had never seen earlier. Laurels offered books and articles written were many and never be forgotten. All that was apart from his activities as a very rare motor car enthusiast. His wealthy parental background and the presence of his everloving wife, once Minister of Health adds staid to his unassuming tall figure. In the 1980s, as the President of the Scout Association he sponsored me to continue in promoting the need for Sinhala version of the communication methods for scouts which existed in the English medium prior to the 2nd World War, but no more known since then. Recently, I met him while he was resting in his antique lounger at his palacial residence and found that the ideals he had in promoting Sinhala Semaphore and Morse light communication among scouts still lives in resurrection. May the President and the Chief Scout Commissioner promote Sinhala Semaphore and Sinhala Morse light communication for scouts islandwide and between our fishing crafts' crews at sea. by Y. Amarasena de Silva, The TV reduced the conversation the computers minimised and now mobile phones seem to be abolishing the face to face interaction. If you watch today's youngsters you will notice that even friends standing next to each other are sending SMSs to others, playing games on their mobiles or speaking to a far away friend rather than the one standing next to him. We seem to be having too much of communication, paradoxically cutting off communication. Smiles are rare, friendly banter is uncommon but everyone is busy on their mobiles. The parents are on phone - more than one at a time, and have no time to speak to children and vice versa. Even doctors find it irritating when patients start talking on their mobiles while being examined. Of course the reverse happens too - the doctors are interrupted by phone calls on their mobiles, which in turn irritates the patient. I think it's time we all learnt to minimise virtual communication and start responding to those who are (physically) near and dear to us. by Mareena Reffai, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, a former Minister and politician has propagated that Sri Lankan farmers should discard the loin-cloth and wear bell-bottoms to fit into the modern era. He does not know the periphery of the Sri Lankan farmer. He is talking nonsense. In Sri Lanka and India farmers prepare their paddy fields for cultivation working in a pool of muddy water. Harrowing of the fields are done by buffaloes who drives the harrow in a pool of muddy water led by the farmer. The traditional loin cloth is the most suitable and tried and tested attire for this type of arduous operations exposed to hot or wet weather. They get the wind blowing to their bare bodies, bare feet and buttocks to enable them to work hard the whole day. Bell bottoms and shoes will get soaked in mud and are unsuitable for tropical countries. The loin cloth is manufactured in the village handblooms and is sold at Rs. 10 each, whereas the bell bottoms and shoes will cost him Rs. 1500 or more and we have to incur foreign exchange to purchase them enriching the foreigners. One politician sometime ago promised gold bracelets to young girls and boys and he was given the boot by the voters. I am reminded of the famous saying, "Fools rush in where angles fear to tread". by P. B. Godigamuwa, Wirasekera wrote the truth in his letter of 18.09.2005 Sunday Observer "Kadir and Tamils". Yes, we do live in fear of speaking out against the LTTE. A few brave men such as Anandasangaree and D. B. S. Jeyaraj carry our torch. God bless them. Most of us do realise that Kadir wanted to release us from the "cruel bondage" of the LTTE. Those who do not admit it, even amongst friends, are simply unintelligent. Thank you Wirasekera for bringing to public notice, the debt of gratitude we, the Tamils of Sri Lanka, owe Lakshman Kadirgamar. May he Rest in Peace! by B. V. Settlement by Insurance Ombudsman Recently I read in your paper an Appreciation of the great services rendered by the Insurance Ombudsman in settling a window's claim on her husband's life insurance policy. I also want to applaud the Insurance Ombudsman for settling my daughter's claim on a life policy of her deceased husband (a medical doctor). A State bank had given life cover of Rs 500,000 to my son-in-law on an NRFC Account but when he suddenly died the Insurance Company refused to pay a claim made by his wife on the ground that the claim was not lodged within the time specified in the policy. The issue was that my son-in-law (the deceased insured) had never been given a copy of the policy. Thus, we never knew the conditions of the policy. The Ombudsman inquired into the matter and on his inquiry the claim was settled and the wife was settled in full-thanks to the intervention of the Insurance Ombudsman. by A. Sivapathasundram, When in Japan, our bubbling dentist had been introduced to some paddy farmers of that country. The farmers were in lounge suit and the dentist was impressed by the fact that these farmers dipped themselves in the muddy fields wearing trousers. What a contrast to our farmers who expose their posterior in a disgraceful manner by wearing the Sinhala amude! Now, the dentist is urging his party to promptly issue trousers to all our farmers to bring them in line with this international practice. Even so, the good dentist is careful not to comment on the Japanese Sumo Wrestlers whose naked backsides are often presented on our T.V. screens, in their full blown glory, upholstered in the Japanese amude. After all, why should our beloved dentist be the instrument in denying the aesthetic pleasure he and his close friends may be deriving by the harmless pastime of enjoying the sight of a fully fledged naked backside, Japanese or otherwise? This shows that our inimitable dentist still does possess his wisdom tooth! by W. S. Perera, |
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