Letters to the Editor
View(s):More white elephants for whose benefit?
A foundation stone laying ceremony to construct an International Conference Hall in Galle was reported in the papers last week. How many international conferences are held in Sri Lanka for a year? Hardly any. All these years we have been using the BMICH. What’s wrong with it now?
We have the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Conference Centre in Hambantota and it is closed, because we have no international conferences. During the last election and after that everyone was talking about the “no ship” harbour”, “no flights” airport” and “no conference” international conference centre in Hambantota”. We have built those white elephants after borrowing and dumping valuable foreign exchange. The cost of maintaining these places is far more than the income they produce, but the people who are responsible for such foolish decisions call them development work. What is development if no employment is created and no income is generated? The only income are the commissions they received, with no benefits to the country.
Now why is the present government thinking of building another white elephant in Galle? If the members of Parliament for Galle district think that they can proudly tell the voters in their district that they have got this conference centre for their district, please go ahead and do these nonsensical ventures using your own money, not the tax payers’ money.
The Minister of Education is hellbent on giving tabs to Advanced Level students and teachers. When this was questioned in the Cabinet meeting he has said that it is an election promise. Did not the UNP candidates tell the villagers that the dilapidated school buildings would be repaired; that sufficient desks and chairs will be given to the village schools etc? Are not those election promises too? They are. It is a matter of allocating smaller amounts for this type of small but important projects. When the required fund is small, there is no room for big commissions. They want to fulfil the promises involving millions if not billions, but not small projects that require no millions.
Mr. Minister, please provide basic needs to the poor village children to get a basic education. How can the “Langama pasala be hondama pasala” when some of those schools have many shortcomings. You cannot fool the people with slogans.
You are due to open some school buildings in the near future and all of them are in your electorate. There is nothing wrong with this, but please keep in mind that Kuliyapitiya is only a part of Sri Lanka and you are the Minister in charge of Education for the whole country.
H. de Silva Via email
Do our teachers need lessons on the importance of being hydrated?
‘Just ask any alien
in the kidnapping game,
for teachers and aliens
well they all look the same!’
This is the last stanza in a poem titled, ‘An Alien Education’. When I hear some of the stories about some teachers in our schools these days, I am convinced that they don’t just look like aliens but they may be behaving like them too!
The latest complaint is that some teachers do not allow students to drink water or go to the toilet except during the interval. Children are in school for about six hours during weekdays. In a warm country like ours drinking water is essential. It is not only a basic human right but also a medical necessity. It is essential for our health. It is also very natural to want to go to the toilet and pee after drinking water.
Our bodies are made up of sixty to seventy per cent water. Fluid loss takes place continuously from skin evaporation, breathing and other bodily functions such as urinating and passing stools. These losses must be replaced daily for good health.
Drinking adequate water helps us to maintain the balance of body fluids. Bodily fluids help in the proper functioning of digestion, absorption and transportation of nutrients, circulation, and maintenance of body temperature.
When one’s water intake does not equal the output, it results in dehydration. When muscles do not have adequate fluids, their performance can suffer. Lack of water results in poor performance of the kidney’s functions. Kidneys cleanse the body of toxins and when the body does not have enough water, urine concentration, colour and odour increase. When this happens for a long time, it could result in kidney stones. It can also result in constipation as the body pulls water from stools to maintain hydration in the body.
Water is known to be the best and most natural hydrating liquid. The body produces urine as a way to get rid of waste and any excess water. When one drinks water, it is natural to want to urinate. Holding too long before going to the toilet is not good for the urinary tract and could result in urinary tract infections and other long term complications.
So why is it that some teachers do not allow students to drink water when they are thirsty? Do they not know that the brain sends a message and tells children when their bodies need more water? Do they not know that children need to drink water to get rid of their thirst? Do they not know the benefits of drinking water and the side effects of not drinking water? Do they not know that it is a very natural thing to want to urinate after drinking water? Is this why students are not allowed to drink water and go to the toilet when they feel the need to do so?
Worried parent Via email
Be cautious about opening greater links with South India
Sri Lanka has the advantage of being an island.
When it comes to communicable diseases medical history has it that many a disease, eg. cholera, smallpox, some say even parangi (yaws) came with the South Indian labour and soldiers, brought by our then colonial masters , the British. Epidemics are on record with multiple deaths. Our public health services must be thanked for the absence of such scourges in our midst at present.
South India has a significant problem with HIV Aids, occasional outbreaks of cholera and even ‘drugs’. All the problems too of not being an island. Our monitoring of the greater access to India envisaged by improved sea and rail links must be cautiously implemented to ensure proper quarantine procedures for humans, plants and animals.
Dr. Channa Ratnatunga Via email
What happens to all the drugs that are seized?
Not a single day passes without us hearing that someone was caught with some ganja or narcotics. If it gets to the wrong hands again how many lives, how many families would be destroyed? The news appears and it is soon forgotten. What happens to the narcotics that are seized? Are we sure they are not re-circulated to the sellers again?
Shouldn’t there be a rule that these drugs are burnt publicly so that everyone is sure they are not sold again?
And what happens to the criminals who are caught? Do they stay as the government’s guests for the rest of their lives –eating, drinking and sleeping safely in prison? Do they continue their trade from inside the cell?
Any guesses?
Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai Dehiwala