Letters to the Editor
View(s):Like kerosene and coconut oil, MS and MR policies won’t mix
Many self-centred ‘politikkas’ in the UPFA are showing their political immaturity in their attempt to bring Maithripala Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa together.
They are so immature and so concerned about their ‘dark past’ and their own political future that they fail to realise that just as kerosene and coconut oil will not mix, Maithripala and Mahinda policies which are far apart as the sky and the ocean will never mix. Kerosene and coconut oil will only mix when stirred by an external force while their molecules will repulse each other. Similarly Maithripala and Mahinda policies would repulse each other, resulting in friction which in turn would ruin our dear motherland.
For example, Rajapaksa’s policy was to disband the independent commissions and have his own authoritarian and dictatorial ways in all matters, while Sirisena’s policy is to let democracy run its course. If Rajapaksa plans a trip abroad, he would charter a special comfortable plane and take along as many cronies as possible at public expense. Sirisena, on the other hand, would board an ordinary flight and take along only the necessary officials.
Entering the ‘homes’, we would see the former first lady ordering Air Force helicopters for her domestic flights while we are yet to hear about Mrs. Sirisena boarding a helicopter without her husband.
At the grassroots level, we saw some ‘pistol packing’ supporters of MR and so many women molesters at the Pradeshiya level. Now they are threatening to stone policemen to death. Sirisena supporters on the other hand ‘dream’ of a peaceful calm law-abiding life.
Those who are trying to bring MS and MR together are self-centred traitors of the SLFP and Mother Lanka.
M.N. de Silva
Moratuwa
Policemen can do more to eradicate road nuisance
After reading Mr. R. Alles’ letter in the Sunday Times of June 21, I was prompted to add a few more instances where police action is needed.
The khaki uniform issued to policemen, on recruitment, carries with it power and authority. By the movement of his arm, a policeman can bring to a halt a streaming line of traffic.
The police officer should be advised to use this power to crack down on errant road users. Here are a few areas of concern:
n Bus drivers who keep their buses halted at stops for a long time (sometimes as much as 5 minutes). The passengers may, after all, have urgent business to attend.
n Buses that play loud music. (Now they have added TVs to add to the passengers’ woes). More often than not there could be patients travelling in the bus, and the loud music only makes them more sick.
n Vehicles parked on pavements. Pavements, as any road engineer will tell you, are not built to withstand the weight of 2 to 3 ton vehicles. Invariably, the paving blocks give way, giving the unwary pedestrian an unwitting obstacle course to navigate. How many have been the mishaps and injuries caused, is anybody’s guess.
n Vehicle repair shops that have infringed on the pavement. Pedestrians would not complain to the shop owner, for fear of the consequences. Moreover the pavement is completely black with oil and grease, in comparison to the pleasant grey of the newly refurbished roadworks in Colombo.
n Drivers who drive with their high beams on at night. They are blinding oncoming drivers, and they do not realise that a fraction of a second blindness of the driver can cause a serious accident or even death.
6) Motorcyclists and push cyclists who ride on the pavement, and have the effrontery to blow their horns, (or ring their bells, if they have one, or just “shoo-shoo”) if pedestrians are blocking their path.
In these cases, the policemen do not have to charge the offender, issue spot fines or take him to courts. Just warning these offenders would do. They can just walk up to the offender and say, “Friend, you are breaking the law here. Please rectify it, or the next time I happen to see it, I may be forced to take action.”
This will be all that is needed, and in time, a large number of minor offences will cease.
I hope this letter may catch the attention of the DIG Traffic.
John Appaswamy
Ethulkotte
Stop this plunder at private hospitals
That private hospitals charge exorbitant prices is no secret. I wonder whether demanding a detailed bill will solve the problem, but at least it is a beginning.
The price of medical tests has increased beyond the reach of many people.
Many specialist doctors in Colombo insist that patients do their blood and other medical tests from reputed Colombo hospitals. Perhaps they do not understand that patients who are from outstations have to pay thrice the amount to get these reports by sending them to Colombo through local medical centres.
In Mathugama, for an FBS report, the centres charge only Rs. 150. If you send the same sample to Colombo Hospitals the price is around Rs. 450. May be the tests carried out in rural centres are inaccurate. On what basis can one say that tests done in Colombo hospitals are more accurate. We begin to doubt whether the millionaire doctors are making money out of tests too.
The worst part is parking fees. Almost every private hospital charges a parking fee. Say it is alright, but the problem is magnified when specialist doctors come late. I have waited for more than one to three hours for the doctor’s arrival.
The parking attendant charges the delay of the doctors to the patient’s account. Why cannot the hospitals give free parking space or take the minimum amount of Rs. 50 only for channeling patients? Doctors delays are not the patients’ fault.
Doctors, hospitals, medical centres, pharmacy owners get richer and richer. Is there no limit to their greed? Do they think they can live forever? Hope at least one doctor will read this and be there on time for consultation.
Sunil R. Wickremeratne
Mathugama
Have you played Chuckgudu?
Chuckgudu is a village game, now dead in the country. As a stripling of 12 or 13, I used to play this game with my neighbour and friend Walter in Dehiwala. He was a couple of years older to me.
Chuckgudu is played one against the other. All you need to play this game is a strong stick about 30 inches long and another piece about six inches long. Easily available and preferred sticks are from a guava tree. It is also from the guava tree that you obtain the ‘V’ for your catapult.
Once you have these two you are set. Dig a small hole in the shape of a miniature canoe on the ground and toss a coin to see who starts. The winner keeps the small stick ‘Gudda’ crosswise over the canoe shaped hole and levers it with the long stick to a distance. If the opponent catches it before it lands, the shooter forfeits his turn and the other takes over. If not the fielding opponent tosses the ‘Gudda’ to the shooter and he hits it with long stick. From the place where it lands the shooter counts the number of lengths of the shooting stick to the hole. He goes on until he is out and the opponent takes over. The winner is the one with the most number of lengths of the shooting stick.
Now the loser faces the indignity of ‘Gudu Adilla’. The winner hits the ‘Gudda’ with the long stick three times starting from the hole. The loser has to pick it up and run to the hole uttering the punishment lines in one breath and reach the hole. If he breathes in between, the ‘Gudda’ is hit one more time only. This goes on until he reaches the hole in one breath uttering the punishment lines.
The lines I remember are given below:
Mata gudu dunnata, thota hena gahapiya, gahapiya, gahapiya, gahapiya…………
Aachchige watte thuththiri thiththai, thiththai, thiththai, thiththai………..
Chackgudu manam malakada retti, retti, retti, retti………
Chuckgudu theiyang konda kurullang bedumata allang, allang, allang, allang…….
Mahendra Samarasinghe
Dehiwala
Relief for GK depositors, what about others?
This refers to the article appearing in the Sunday Times of June 28 under the heading, “Bigger than the bond scandal!”. The writer talks about how depositors of the Golden Key and The Finance have benefited in getting part of their money back through the Central Bank.
These concessions amounting to billions of rupees – which were made even without any collateral by the Central Bank – are questionable. This is because other failed finance companies such as the Finance and Guarantee (Developers) and Real Estates Companies with assets to the value of more than Rs. 6 billion have not been granted this concession even though the depositors have been agitating for more than six or seven years.
It is high time the politicians, the Central Bank and the Government officials responsible for this concession offer came forward and redressed these distressed unfortunate depositors. They need to be relieved of the hardships they are undergoing. Most of them are over seventy and had deposited their hard-earned money in the hope of leading a life without being a burden on others during their retirement. Some have passed away without being able to finance their medical bills while those who are living are facing enormous difficulties for want of money for their living and meeting their medical bills. Now that the elections are round the corner, these depositors would be much obliged if someone with a kind and benevolent heart comes forward to help them recover their money plundered by unscrupulous characters.
Helping these 2,500 distressed depositors of F&G (Developers) and Real Estate companies will be a meritorious deed as none of us have any kith and kin or powerful people as that of the GK and other finance companies mentioned in the article.
Disgusted Depositor
Why are some deprived of the efficient services at the Passport Office?
The Passport Office in Colombo is perhaps the most efficient government institution where one can obtain services in a speedy manner. However, Sri Lankans applying for a new passport from overseas are not privileged enough to enjoy this efficiency. Their passport applications are sent to the Sri Lankan embassy of the respective country which handles the process with Colombo.
If you check the web site of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington, it says it could take 8 to 10 weeks to obtain a new passport, while for an applicant in Colombo the process takes a maximum of 4 weeks under the normal application process. This means 4 to 6 weeks are spent to send the applications from the respective embassy to Colombo and vice versa.
In a day and age where a document could be sent from any corner of the world to Colombo within 2 days, spending 4 to 6 weeks to send documents to and from Colombo is unbelievable. All this after doling out a pricey sum of US$ 170 (about Rs. 23,000) for this service, including postage, while in Sri Lanka the cost is only Rs. 2,500.
The worst is that during this period of 8 to 10 weeks the applicant is without any valid travel document even to travel to the motherland for any emergency such as sudden sickness of a family member or a funeral which happens without any prior warning.
I appeal to the relevant ministry to revamp this process and ensure that the time taken for the issue of a new passport for an overseas applicant is brought down from 10 weeks to 6 weeks.
Nimal
Via email