Letters
View(s):Remember the old adage about the cock and its comb?
There has never ever been such a flood of cut-outs, hoardings, banners and posters of one man hung and plastered all over fouling up the environment. This questionable image-building campaign spending millions has probably been launched as the stakes are high at the upcoming polls.
In contrast the Common Candidate has shunned all this ballyhoo and appealed for the savings to be channelled to a health fund. He is confident that, sans cut-outs and posters, his image could be etched in the hearts of the people.
What’s obvious is that these aggressive poster proponents are blissfully unaware of the negative effects and should be rebuked with the pithy old adage in Sinhala which translated would be: The often seen cock’s karamale (comb) is white.
Asoka Weerakoon
Kandy
Stop thanking politicos for building roads with our money
Whenever a small road or lane or by-lane is repaired, the local council erects 3x4ft solid notice boards with 3-4 pictures of politicans from top to bottom – the slogan is common, xxxxxx’s thinking, yyyyy’s direction, zzzz’s finances and so on. (They omit an important point – who took the 10%). One of these boards costs around Rs.50,000 to make and erect on a solid foundation.
These roads have been repaired with the tax payer’s money and not with the personal finances of the politicians. In the good old days, rich people in the villages built roads and schools with their own money, therefore it was prudent to put up a notice to show the public who was responsible for such meritorious public deeds.
Local council officials come to power with the people’s vote to attend to these jobs in their official capacities with the utilisation of the tax payer’s money. Even when a public toilet is built in the bus stand, we have seen such bill boards – they will not mind even their name being put up on a public toilet‼! There is no necessity for such boards, as the public knows that small roads (and toilets) are always built by the local council.
Maithree Sirisena has promised that he will put an end to the ‘cut-out era’ which is flourishing these days, wasting people’s money. Huge cut-outs only remind people of the misuse of power by the people/party who promote such cut-outs. But they think otherwise. Let us hope that he will also ban road repair ‘thank you notices’ that are a colossal waste of public funds.
S.M. Rex De Mel
Avissawella
Carols during the period of Advent
As tradition demands, being a person belonging to the High Church tradition of the Anglican Church, when I went to my favourite Church, for the twelve noon Mass, while listening to the sermon, I was asking myself the question as to what has happened to our Advent tradition. Having been to Bishops’ College Calcutta, being trained to chant the Advent Anthems and light the Advent Candle, I was wondering as to what has happened to our Christian Schools and Organisations.
The announcements in the Church and in the Press all indicate that Carol Services are being held during the Holy Season of Advent, which is a preparation for Christmas. While being on the Faculty of our Ecumenical Theological College at Pilimatalawa, the then-Principal used to always tell me that “We Christians have missed the point, for we sing Christmas Carols in Advent. I for one, can understand why this happens. This is because Christian schools, including my old school in Kandy, want to have their Carol Services before the end of the third term. Christian Organisations also want to have their Carol Services before Christmas.
Sydney Knight
Colombo 5
Dangers of a port city in a world of climate change
The government has embarked on a project to reclaim 233 hectares of land from the sea adjoining the Port of Colombo at a cost of 1400 million USD. As our population increases we will need more land for multifarious purposes including land for housing the extra population. Therefore the above project seems at first sight a laudable attempt. This project also exemplifies the fact that no ethnically exclusive homeland for anyone in Sri Lanka is possible and permissible.
The government has assured the nation in Parliament that proper assessment of the project has been done by various professional national institutions and that they have all approved the project. Therefore my probing appears to be a redundant and futile exercise. Yet I dare to express my concern given the devastation caused by the sea due to climate change. My concern is the danger to the Port City itself and adjoining areas from climate change leading to rising sea level
This peril from the sea could be further aggravated by the South Indian Sethu canal project, and it might not have been given due weight in the evaluation process. Many reports in the media suggest that this enormously expensive project would become the playground of filthy rich Sri Lankans and foreigners and would not be of any tangible benefit to the ordinary Sri Lankans. Is it wise to embark on such a futile folly costing an enormous 1400 million USD?
Rising temperatures usually generate severe cyclones and tempestuous seas which will invade land in the coastal areas. We already experienced this danger a few months ago when people in the north-east had to evacuate from their dwellings along the coastline. This is not the only danger to the Port City. We already have the experience of the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami. Is it humanly possible to protect the Port City from such a cataclysmic catastrophe? Probably not. Given the fact that Java Island is sitting on a moving tectonic plate, future earthquakes and consequent devastating tsunamis are distinct possibilities. Imponderable though they might be, yet they should be factored in, in any risk evaluation.
Rising temperature has been melting the ice cover in both the North and South Poles. Greenland has lost nearly 20% of its ice cover of glaciers. Even the glaciers of the Himalaya range have been melting away and adding to the volume of water in the sea. Nearly 70% of our planet is covered by water and when this is increased it has got to go somewhere. That somewhere is the land we occupy.
Then there is the most imponderable question of what happens to the vast volume of water displaced by the filling up of the sea. Rather than be simply absorbed by the sea, would it seek to flood and inundate the low-lying areas and the coastal towns all the way up north to Chilaw and down south to Galle. This would be an inexcusable man-made disaster imposed on the hapless citizens. By all standards of justice such a catastrophe cannot be justified. The Colombo playboys who seek their Sodom and Gomorrah in Port City at the expense of our ordinary citizens should be told to look for their pleasure- grounds elsewhere.
To highlight this danger of rising sea-level, a former President of Maldives once held a undersea cabinet meeting after having lost a few of his islands to the sea. Many islands in the Indian and Bangladeshi Sunderban have been swallowed up by the sea during the last few years. The same fate has overtaken many small Pacific islands. Many Kiribati Islanders have sought refuge in New Zealand and others have been offered asylum by Fiji. The Dutch, famous for their dykes claiming land from the ferocious North Sea, are today fighting a desperate battle to preserve the same polders from the inexorable onslaught of the sea. All along our coast we too have lost land to the sea and this erosion continues unabated. Thus it appears legitimate to query why the funds were not employed to strengthen the coastal defences against the invading sea.
As expected and speculated, if this enormous investment in Port City does generate wealth and jobs adequate to justify the risk undertaken, then one has to unwillingly welcome this venture, subject to the caveat that the rising sea will allow it to exist as planned and the construction industry has well-planned defences to keep the sea at bay for the foreseeable future. I remain pessimistic. At best, this investment would only marginally benefit Sri Lanka.
Durand Appuhamy
Negombo
Backlog in cataract operations: How to solve the problem
I have read with interest the exchange of comments amongst the ophthalmologists regarding the backlog in cataract operations. Although I am now retired I would like my comments too circulated and discussed.
n There were only a few ophthalmic surgical units in 1988, but we managed to construct units in Puttalam, Hambantota, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Dambulla, Mahiyangana, Moneragala, Homagama, Gampola and Kalmunai and further expanded Polonnaruwa and Badulla.
n We managed to donate Zeiss Microscopes, Topcon Slit Lamps, Trail lenses, Keratometers, Lasers etc.
At that time there was no backlog at least at the Eye Unit Kandy unless by patient demand.
I believe, with super specialization,the surgeons are refusing to move in to the closed stations.
Reasons:
n To run a comfortable home in Colombo/Kandy
nTo send their kids to up-market schools.
n To accumulate wealth by implanting an expensive lens and obtaining a large commission for it from the drug firm.
In the hospitals themselves, the poorer patient does not get a low cost or free IOL.
Speaking in a mathematical sense, each of our surgeons can do 20 cataracts per surgical session, ie. 40 per week. If he/she works only 40 weeks for a year, it would be 1600 cataracts.
I suggest:
nProvide non foldable lenses to the very poor
nFoldable (Indian) lenses at cost to those who can afford
n Postpone surgery in those whose vision is 6/18 – 6/9 corrected vision(unless they come privately)
n Do not give dates to those < 6/36 corrected vision
n Do not restart a Diploma in Ophthalmology, since it will not solve the present backlog in Cataracts.
n Do not take in medical officers attached to the University for ophthalmic training
nStop all lines of super specialization for the time being.
Our older patients should be able to see their grandchildren before they die. Please be merciful to them.
Dr. Reggie Seimon
Via email
Readers would like to know what happened after the crash
The first-hand detailed article by engineer Donald Rosa in the Sunday Times Plus of November 30 was particularly interesting, because some of us recall the disaster at the time it occurred.
We live in times when equity and fair-play are frequently thrown overboard. Could the author apprise us whether justice was done in the end? Did the Martinair Co. or any party responsible, or their Insurance Agents compensate the families of passengers and crew for the devastating crash? I am sure your readers will like to know about the things that happened afterward.
It seemed certain at the time that the plane had lowered height prematurely, because night had set in, and the Pilot and Co-pilot were both new on the Far East sector, and the Surabaya – Colombo route.
Dr. Lakshman Ranasinghe
Via email