Letters to the Editor

• All in the name of development
• Things called gherkins 
• Good work, but what of their livelihoods?
• Let them get fat
• A leap… a leap…
• Accountants may follow lawyers
• WP GA…it is a big hoax

All in the name of development

The name "woodland" itself is indicative of its past glory. Alas, these agencies now want to duplicate the devastation - as is evident in the nearby Attidiya landfill and numerous other places - all in the name of development!

A marsh has its own ecological use whereby it cleans and maintains a balance of flora and fauna and, naturally, contributes to a cleaner environment. 

This is very simply and amply demonstrated in the woodland area; waste water, garbage, industrial effluent etc are discharged into this marsh, not only from its more than 1000 residences and small scale/cottage industries, but also from the closed quarry of Anderson Road and Sirigal Mawatha.

In a demonstration of what a marsh can do, crystal clear water flows downstream! This water is no doubt not fit for human consumption but it clearly displays the filtering process and the bio-diversity of the marsh. Remove this, and you'd have another Beira Lake or another stagnant lake like the Attidiya Lake. 

Look at the Land Reclamation office itself; the huge moat around it is so stagnant, one could literally "walk on water"! This is exactly what would happen if the woodland park development takes place.

Thank goodness sanity prevailed in the Attidiya area and a part was declared a sanctuary. Unfortunately, the part that was not and was taken over by the Land Reclamation Board was filled, and the part that was made into a lake is a disaster! This, too, threatens the once free-flowing Bellanwila canal.

Don't people learn from mistakes - not necessarily others' mistakes - but from their own? I am sure they do. Unfortunately, there seem to be hidden agendas in the plan for the woodland park - big real estate/housing construction companies in connivance with supposed environmentalists (self-proclaimed!) - are calling the shots for the acquisition process. So the Government pays compensation and they make a killing!

I, as a resident of the area, will benefit if a lake is built. But knowing the ecology of the area and looking at the results of similar projects, I am skeptical. 

Notwithstanding this is the cost which government departments can ill-afford at times like this. 

Mr. Chairman of the UDA a reply would be welcome. Mr. Minister-in-charge please have someone look into this. 

I have written under registered cover to the relevant agencies but have had no response. 

Julian Davis
Kohuwela

Things called gherkins 

Nineteenth century American author George Washington Cables had recited the following limerick at a get-together of American writers:

There was a young lady named Perkins
Who simply doted on gherkins,
She ate such large numbers
of unripe cucumbers
As pickled her internal workings.

S. Sivagurunathan
Kurunegala

Good work, but what of their livelihoods?

Well done! They were a hindrance to pedestrians, as they occupied the pavements mostly on the landside from St. Peter's College up to Vihara Lane Junction.

However, I am also concerned about the poor street hawkers who have suddenly lost their livelihood. Before taking such drastic action, the authorities should have thought about the consequences. 

These hawkers are obviously not trained to do any other job. If nothing is done for their benefit, they may easily join the thousands of deserter criminals marauding the country.

The C.M.C. should find an alternative place for displaced street hawkers to do business. 
 

Edward Joseph
Colombo 14

Let them get fat

May they live long, with all their super luxury benefits, perks, privileges and 'celestial' powers! May we poor pensioners (good for nothing) die soon! What else is there to say?
 

A retired teacher
Colombo

A leap… a leap…

However, the newly-appointed person now in charge of this institution realised the hardship caused to senior citizens. He has ordered that the pension branch which was housed upstairs where pensioners had to clime a flight of 15 steep steps risking life and limb, be relocated. 

Now that the pension branch is 'grounded', the 7,000 pensioners can safely go there for redress.
 

C.L. Terence Fernando
Moratuwa

Accountants may follow lawyers

In my opinion, there are more lawyers than there is a demand for them. All lawyers strive to earn a reasonable income. If they cannot do this, they adopt various means to do so. Hence the decline in professional standards. 

The remedy is to restrict the number of lawyers passing out of Law College. A similar situation is arising in the field of accountancy too. All those who fail to enter the university switch to accountancy, where there is no restriction in the registration of students. Every six months, over 100 qualify as chartered accountants and over 100 as management accountants. Does Sri Lanka need so many qualified accountants? 

The Institute of Chartered Accountants must go back to the former system of articleship and only articled students should be allowed to sit for exams. If no meaningful steps are taken to prevent the deterioration of this profession, it will go the same way as the law profession.
 

D.C. Jayasinghe
Hatton

WP GA…it is a big hoax

But, after all, what is a registration number to him? Is it a mere symbol that meets the requirements of someone or is it something easily remembered and more meaningful?

The previous registration number of a vehicle indicated the vehicle class and many other details. Whether it was a car, lorry, dual purpose vehicle, motorcycle, tractor, etc., and the fuel it ran on. The number even gave details of the period of import. 

The present numbers can hardly define any of these details. Should one sacrifice such a mass of information to know the province the vehicle was first registered, when ownership could move to other provinces, without any changes in the original registration? If the idea was to track down the vehicle easily by its reference to the province, it has become a hoax.

What now remains is that the registration number, while not affording the valuable information it provided, is only causing confusion.

Since it is made by one source, that enjoys a monopoly, it is also more costly. Most motorists who registered under the earlier system feel that they should be allowed to retain their numbers and be free of this mess. 

It would also benefit vehicle owners, if the present system is altered to provide more meaningful registration numbers. 

When the lesson that a small country like ours should not adopt a system that is suited to a large country was shown in the Provincial Council system, should we continue to create a mess in the registration of vehicles too?
 

B. Abeyratne
Pothuhera

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