Letters
View(s):Impractical ban on garbage bags
“The so-called Yahapaalanaya rulers have now moved onto legislating the disposal of garbage. Whether that is an apt job description for this government or not is something I will leave to public opinion. Once again, however, the meat in the sandwich turns out to be us, the hassled voters- the general public.
Last Tuesday, we had the garbage truck of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) visit our lane. That itself is a rare event worth celebrating! Anyway, the truck was accompanied by two CMC officials who, in their State endowed pomposity, announced to all of us that we can no longer use garbage bags or shopping bags to collect our garbage (wet and recyclable) as the CMC will not collect garbage disposed in those ways. So, we asked them how else we can keep the garbage for collection… and the answer.. another bureaucratic shrug of the shoulders. Then I called the ‘Solid Waste Disposal Department’ of the CMC twice – the phones rang for about 3-4 minutes but no one answered them. The efficiency of the pre-January 2015 era, when bosses and clerks picked up their phones pronto seems to have deteriorated with the dawning of “good governance”
It’s not enough that the garbage truck which is supposed to come twice a week, comes, most often, once a fortnight- now, we have to store our garbage until they wake up to the need of serving the public, in some way that we can invent other than in bags meant for garbage and used for such all over the world!
“Black” garbage bags, I can understand as they have reached the end of their recyclable life. But what about the white and the yellow?
Our legislators suddenly wake up from their general stupor and have these brilliant new ideas that are utterly impracticable because there is no process of thinking through them; no looking at how their ideas can work in practice so that the general public are not harassed. IF the CMC says”no bags”period, then they MUST give the public an alternate way by which to pack their garbage for disposal. What else are we to do- hold the garbage in our hands till their “lordships” deign to come?
Ajit Perera
Colombo
Dumping unwanted health care products on the public?
With reference to the Sunday Times editorial last Sunday on “The quick-fix drug price formula is no cure”, with the latest price ceiling on pharmaceuticals, many companies will find it difficult to maintain their increasing expenditure against profits.
Due to this development pharma companies have turned their focus on vitamins, neutroceuticals, cosmeceuticals, food supplements – whatever useless health care products to be loaded to the unsuspecting customers or general public.
They use the mass media, TV commercials / interviews and various other means to lure the public to buy unwanted health care products by charging enormous amounts.
The pharma companies promote the products through the medical profession to generate prescriptions for these products in return to make huge sums of profit.
SR
Via email
Fixed hours on a staggered basis would be better solution
The proposal to have flexible working hours for public sector employees to ease the traffic congestion in the city would bring more negative results than positive, in my opinion.The public who go to Government departments to get things attended to by the staff will have to face severe hardships due to this new system which the Govt hopes to introduce on a trial basis in Battaramulla first and later to other areas.
For instance, if an employee decides to report for work at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., he will clock in at 10 and first go to the canteen for tea and spend about 1/2 an hour there before commencing his duties. By that time a long queue would be waiting with a number of problems for his attention. Then he would go to the canteen again for lunch at sharp 12.30 p.m. after attending to a few and the public has to wait with empty stomach till his/her turn comes. Suppose, the customer has to bring some more certificates/documents he will be asked to come with the same the next day as banks and other depts would have put up shutters by then. If the same employee decides to clock in on the next day at 7 a.m., the public who call at his office after obtaining the required documents would find to their dismay that he was preparing to leave for home.Then the poor public has to again come on the next day after confirming his working hours.
My suggestion is instead of having flexible working hours each dept should be asked to commence their work on a fixed staggered basis i.e 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., to avoid inconvenience to the public.
P.V.Anantha
Via email
| Letters to the Editor ‘Letters to the Editor’ should be brief and to the point. ‘Letters to the Editor or editor@sundaytimes.wnl.lk. Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned |