IT conference at Peradeniya

The key subjects covered in the conference include Career Development opportunities through Computer Science and Information Technology; Human Resources in the field of Computer Science; Educational opportunities through Computer and IT related fields; Newly evolved fields of IT; Positioning the local IT industry with reference to Global Development and Research opportunities in the field.

SLMC's 50th birthday sans some key ministers 

All ministers have been invited to attend the ceremony, but some of them are likely to keep away from the event which will begin at 1.30 p.m. with President Kumaratunga presiding over, party sources said

The event is being co-ordinated by Party Vice President Mahinda Rajapakse, whose father D.A. Rajapakse was among the pioneer members of the party.

Political sources said ministers S. B. Dissanayake, G. L. Peiris, Mahinda Wijesekera and Jeyaraj Fernadopulle who had clashed with the President over policy matters were likely to skip today's ceremony. They said attempts were made to persuade Mr. Dissanayake to attend today's meeting, but they proved futile. (See Political Column for more details.)

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party which was created by the late Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, father of President Kumaratunga, on September 2, 1951 has since inception been one of the two main parties in the country.

A documentary film has been prepared on the history of the party and is expected to be screened during the celebrations while a souvenir has also been published to mark the event. 

Margamithuro make safety inroads

By Nilika de Silva

Margamithuro president Karunasena Hettiarachchi said that on average five deaths occurred daily as a result of road accidents and the groups objectives would include promoting road discipline and safety, streamlining traffic, and promoting people participation in road discipline.

Mr. Hettiarachchi said the association which has identified three key areas that need attention-road infrastructure deficiencies, poor management of traffic and indisciplined behaviour of road users- has drawn up a programme costing around Rs. 20-25 million to tackle these problem areas. As a first step this voluntary non-governmental group would begin public awareness programmes, Mr. Hettiarachchi said.

He said the group was not interested in "fault finding" which was counter productive. Instead it recognised that the system and not any individual or agency was at fault and would engage in fact-finding and planned intervention with the collaboration of governmental and non-governmental partners to remedy the situation.

He said the board which included officials from the Colombo Municipal Council, the Road Development Association, Police, the Automobile Association, and the Commissioner Motor Traffic, would also urge the three wheeler association, and the bus operators association to join as affiliated members.

Junior and senior fellowships

The junior fellowship offers a two year study period most of it in India. The successful candidate will receive Indian Rs 25,000/- a month and also Rs 75,000/- as a travel and book grant. For this fellowship, applicants should be between the age of 25 and 45 and have a first or second upper class Bachelor's Degree or equivalent qualifications.

The senior fellowship is aimed at those under 45 years in professorial positions in universities or teaching establishments and offers a nine month stay in India. 

The scholar will receive Indian Rs 40,000 a month and Rs 100,000 as a travel and book grant. 

The India-Sri Lanka Foundation was set up in 1998 by the two governments to foster closer ties through economic, scientific, educational, technical and cultural co-operation between the two countries.

For more details contact the Secretary, India-Sri Lanka Foundation, 133, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 4, tel. 506460. The closing date for applications is September 12.

Tender cancelled: bungling and corruption alleged

The Occupational Safety and Hygiene Division which is in need of equipment to upgrade its services had been requesting funds since April last year to purchase the equipment known as an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer which is used to test the metal levels in blood samples.

In March this year the funds were made available and tenders had been called by Commissioner General of Labour Mahinda Madihahewa. But less than a month later the Labour Department announced that the tender was being cancelled and fresh bids would be called.

The Sunday Times learns that the tender had been cancelled following allegations of bribery and that certain specifications in the tender were favourable to some of the regular bidders, placing newcomers at a disadvantage. The tender documents were also said to contain several flaws.

Among the main flaws was that the requirement of the bid bond was only stated in the press advertisement and no mention of the bid bond was found in the tender document which is the legal document.

One of the prospective bidders had claimed that the clause had been deliberately left out from the tender document so that those who do not submit the bid bond could be disqualified.

In another glaring mistake the tender document had stated that at least 15 years warranty was required for spare parts availability whereas in the same document in another place it was stated that the tenderer should guarantee the availability of spare parts for a period of not less than eight years.

The allegation was that a tenderer who submits his tender guaranteeing the availability of spare parts for eight years was liable to be rejected on the grounds of not meeting the requirements.

A tenderer had also raised objections that a prospective tenderer was required to furnish a list of previous customers in Sri Lanka to whom similar equipment had been supplied, installed and commissioned. A tenderer was also required to submit two letters from organisations where identical equipment had been commissioned and was operating satisfactorily.

Currently similar equipment has been installed only in the Central Environmental Authority and the Industrial Technology Institute (former CISIR).

As similar equipment has been installed only in these two institutions, stipulations in the tender would favour some tenderers.

Meanwhile the delay caused by the cancellation of the tender is affecting work in the Occupational Safety and Hygiene Division which carries out a large number of tests on blood samples.

Commissioner of this Division Dr. Ranjith de Alwis told The Sunday Times that the equipment which is being used was over 12 years old and getting obsolete and there was an urgent requirement to get new equipment.

Dr. de Alwis declined to comment on the tender itself, as it had been called by the Commissioner General of Labour.

Commissioner General of Labour Mr. Madihahewa was not available for comment as he was out of the country.

Docs win two of five

By Faraza Farook

The Ministry was forced to revise a circular that was to be put into operation from January 2002 after the GMOA refused to call off its strike. 

Accordingly, doctors will receive an increased overtime payment from November this year and an allowance for working on public holidays from January next year. 

Major breakthrough in fight against Malaria

By Faraza Farook

"The number of malaria cases for this year will be less than 100,000, which is incidentally the lowest in 20 years," Malaria Control Programme Director Dr. Punsiri Fernando told The Sunday Times.

A comparison in the number of positive cases with previous years showed a drastic drop this year,with only 42,237 cases (from Jan–Jun) being reported as against 264,549 cases and 210,039 cases reported in 1999 and 2000.

However, Dr. Fernando warned if control measures were not sustained there was every possibility that Malaria could re-emerge as a major health hazard as previous experiences have shown. 

The malaria eradication campaign – a ten year programme undertaken in 1958 mainly through the intensive use of insecticides, saw dramatic results with a sharp fall to as low as 17 in 1963. But premature withdrawal of DDT spraying resulted in the re-emergence of Malaria in epidemic proportions and reached a peak of 537,705 in 1969 with figures remaining high till the mid seventies, he said.

While the early termination of the DDT campaign was the main cause for its re-emergence, the lack of comprehensive control measures and a strong mechanism to detect patients have been contributory factors for the fluctuating numbers each year. "We then adopted a control programme having decided that eradication was an unattainable goal due to various constraints," Dr. Fernando said. 

The drug resistance of the Malaria spreading parasites is now posing serious concern to many countries including Sri Lanka making it difficult to eradicate the disease. DDT spraying was completely withdrawn in Sri Lanka in 1976 and now, mosquitoes in some areas have developed resistance to Malathion, which was introduced in 1977.

Only two parasites that spread Malaria are found in Sri Lanka – Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum. Falciparum malaria is a potentially dangerous form of the disease which, at times, can lead to cerebral malaria, severe anaemia, or a state of shock (algid malaria) and death. However, deaths due to malaria has been considerably low here, Dr. Fernando said. 

The malaria parasites enter the body through mosquito bites. Unlike the Dengue mosquito which is a daytime biter, the malaria mosquito bites between dusk and dawn with the peak hours of activity being 6-10 p.m. and 4-6 a.m. and can bite both outdoors and indoors.

One of the first symptoms is fever accompanied with chill and rigor followed by sweating which recurs at regular intervals. Vomiting, convulsions, unconsciousness, drowsiness etc. show a severity in the disease.

The malaria mosquito breeds in small pockets of water. Gem pits that are left open, brick and tile making places are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, Dr. Fernando said pointing out the hazard of illegal gem mining which has posed a problem in containing the disease.

Dr. Fernando said those living in malarious areas should get their blood screened and whenever possible use mosquito nets treated with insecticide. This can be done free at one's nearest MOH office. He said, the application of Citronella and other traditional methods such as burning Kohomba leaves and Magosa could help keep away the mosquitoes.

A common problem is that patients often discontinue treatment as soon as the fever subsides, Dr. Fernando pointed out, advising patients to always continue the full treatment. 

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