| Letters
to the Editor |
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Contents
Give peace a chance first Recent criticisms of the MoU between the government and the LTTE by the JVP prompted me to write this short reminder. In 1971 the people were at the receiving end of the JVP throughout Sri Lanka. They destroyed a large number of public buildings including police stations and set ablaze many public utilities and buses. Roads including the main Kandy-Colombo Road were blocked by large trees. The security forces were called in to restore law and order, but could not get very far without clearing the roads. Ultimately, a large number of misled youth surrendered and were rehabilitated in special camps. These surrendees built the Anuradhapura army camp and turned out to be useful citizens, after they realised their folly. The JVP opposed the Peace Accord of 1987 and set the country ablaze, again destroying national wealth. This was followed by a second insurrection in 1988. They even targeted the innocent parents of servicemen. This is fresh in the minds of many people who are true patriots of this country. They cried out loud to get rid of the IPKF who almost defeated the LTTE. The LTTE continued their campaign. The armed forces were not able to overcome them due to people with vested interests - particularly arms traders who became millionaires overnight. The peace process started by the present government is not to the liking of the JVP as they are masters at fishing in troubled waters. What did Somawanse Amerasinghe say before his departure, after campaigning for the general elections of December 5, 2001? Did he not refer to taking up arms if necessary? As a responsible party it is the JVP's bounden duty to support the peace process. If it fails,
we will join the JVP to fight the LTTE in the battlefield, provided
the JVP comes to battle it out and destroy terrorism. No
right to block Duplication Road What is not reported is that this school never had a playground of its own. They always used the playgrounds of nearby schools. Therefore, it is unfair for them to hold up an important development plan. St. Peter's College sacrificed more than five times the land given by Muslim Ladies' College, clearly acting in the wider interest of the public. The Highways
Minister and the Prime Minister should bring this road project under
the 100-day programme of the government and open this very important
stretch of road. Thoughts
from Colombo A minister of state of any country attending an important conference abroad like the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, taking the press corps., with him would be his privilege, and the usual practice. Here the Foreign Minister had the singular honour of standing in not only for the Executive President but also the Prime Minister. The writer has apparently got his facts wrong. Puran Appo was one of the fallen heroes along with Gongalegoda Banda in the so-called "Matale" uprising of 1848, against the British. Mr. Tyronne Fernando is not a grandson but a descendant of the same clan and lineage. With regard to the Zimbabwe issue, what the sources of the writer and whom did he speak to? It certainly couldn't have been a person from Sri Lanka or from the Third World press corps. It is more likely someone closer to his exiled home in the UK or from a white member state of the Commonwealth, who could not have been quite objective or balanced. A Foreign Minister of a developing country cannot expect encomiums from such a press corps. and one is inclined to dismiss the 'Thoughts from London' as second-hand hearsay. Does the writer know that in 2001, the International Bar Association headquartered in London sent a top level delegation led by Lord Goldsmith, QC on a mission to Zimbabwe? Though not unexpected, the delegation did digress from its legal brief and commented on the white farmer/black landless issue in their report. The angry response of helpless Zimbabwe was, 'Baronial blood racing through (Lord Goldsmith's QC) veins'alleging a direct blood relationship with Cecil Rhodes. From where did the writer get his statistics of only five white farmers being killed? If this is true, was not the western media blowing it up? 'Harare Declaration - double standards'; 'Violating human rights abroad while promoting them at home' would be good headlines. But why not for a moment, compliment somebody for standing up to the arrogance and might of the white membership of the Commonwealth led by Tony Blair, intent on steam-rolling their way to suspending Zimbabwe. Saner counsel led by Sri Lanka and India prevailed on appointing a committee. The committee has reported by now and the matter dealt with as expeditiously, as possible, without a rift within the Commonwealth and with finesse as the writer would admit. Meanwhile, no one in Sri Lanka would fault the UNP for concentrating on the economy and development. Poverty and employment are the priorities of a Third World country. But foreign policy did not take a back seat in the long Parliament of 1977. Right at the start, the President did attend the Non-Aligned Heads of State and personally handed over the baton to Fidel Castro of Cuba. His vigorous foreign policy line, quite independent of the big brother/neighbour India did have its unfortunate response in India arming the terrorist groups at home. As for the run-of-the-mill
politicians, the present incumbent of the Foreign Ministry counts
an uninterrupted 25 years in Parliament. He has been a Deputy Foreign
Minister for well over a decade. Few have that record.
May the flowers
of peace On the distant
horizon Mahogany
on rubber estates Mahogany should have been grown along with rubber replanting, thus saving a substantial amount of foreign exchange. Planting of mahogany in the empty spaces when replanting rubber was not considered a viable option by the authorities despite repeated attempts by this writer to persuade them to do so. If the proposal to plant mahogany in vacant rubber lands was accepted, estates and smallholdings would have had the benefit of having at least 30 well grown mahogany trees per hectare. These trees could have been felled along with the old rubber trees after 30 years. With the Sri Lanka-China Rubber Rice Pact in 1955, intensive rubber planting was undertaken under the Rubber Re-planting Subsidy Scheme (RRSS). As a result the incidence of white root disease (Fomes) was more prevalent specially in the case of small-holdings. This deadly disease-caused by the non-removal of all rubber roots of the original stand, resulting in the fungus thriving among them-reaches its peak in the second and third year of replanting. Unfortunately, the small-holder did not give much attention to the prevalence of this disease. From 1955 to 1958, I was a rubber planter in the Yatiyantota area, and served in the first batch of inspecting officers under the RRSS of which about 90% were 'white planters'. Having seen the damage caused to replanting by Fomes, it was observed that replacement of another budded rubber plant after three years was a futile exercise. I suggested the planting of mahogany where there were spaces created by the deaths of rubber plants. Mahogany would
also have filled the wind gaps and prevented storm damage. On a very modest
calculation my proposal would have helped to plant about 8% to 10%
of the vacancies amounting to about 30 mahogany trees per hectare.
This economic value has been denied to the grower. The total value
of about 30 trees per hectare would have been Rs. 375,000 at the
current market price. 'Letters
to the Editor' should be brief and to the point. |
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