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to the Editor |
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Act against
traitors who kill crops A container
load of 'seed potatoes' was detected with inherent germs, bacteria
and viruses that were purposely introduced to cause damage not only
to potato cultivation, but also to other agro-plantations as well. It was revealed
that when the Customs wanted to destroy this bad find, a high official
of the Agricultural Department had intervened and got the consignment
released to be distributed amongst the poor potato farmers. This
is an act of sheer lunacy, and high betrayal. Whoever the official
concerned is, he is a national traitor. Mr. Agriculture Minister,
it is up to you to look into this grave matter, and whoever guilty
of this treacherous act should be dealt with severely. This is not
an issue to be easily ignored or forgotten. We have heard of instances
where coconut, tea, paddy, vegetable, mango and banana plantations
being infested with various unknown viruses and germs. Thousands
of acres of our agro-products had been destroyed due to these funguses. There appears
to be a calculated and concerted effort by interested foreign elements
to damage, destroy and ruin our agro-based industry so that they
could not only sell their chemicals and other disinfectants to the
local farmer but also introduce their products to the local market.
This is why so many multinationals are riding high in this country
selling their chemicals to the innocent farmer. They have connived
with top Sri Lankan bureaucrats to spread diseases in our agro-plantations
thus destroying or effectively lowering and reducing our agro-yields
and quality. Now that the national television has highlighted the
cause of hitherto unheard of viruses, bacteria, funguses and diseases
and how they are subtly and surreptitiously being introduced into
our farms and plantations, the State should spring into action immediately. Ranjit C. Dissanayake, Eksath Sinhala
Maha Disillusioned with peace process Professor G.L.
Peiris says, "Nowhere in the world, have terrorist groups laid
down arms before signing a peace treaty". I suppose under
the peace treaty when the LTTE-controlled areas are given federal
status, there will be an argument that the Tigers need arms to safeguard
the federal state. What will the
Professor say then? Words, words,
words. Prof. Peiris is once again having a jolly good time going
all over the world showing off the peace treaty and the MoU. On the other
hand, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says the last ball will
be a ''Sixer''. What will happen if the last ball takes his middle
stump off? I am a staunch UNPer. So are my parents and my close
associates. But we are getting disillusioned about what is happening
with regard to the LTTE. How much more will the government bend
over backward to accommodate the LTTE? This way it is very easy
to maintain peace. For the first
time the LTTE is stumped with regard to the high security zones.
It thought
of a subtle method to weaken the power of the army. Only 10% of
the population of Jaffna lived in the HSZs earlier. What of the
90% outside the HSZs? Shouldn't the resettlement first begin outside
the HSZ? Why this haste on the part of the LTTE to settle this 10%?
What about the resettlement of people in the LTTE-controlled areas? T.D. Wickremaratne Excellent tourism
promotion The tourism
industry is being revived with many a promotion being launched.
The SriLankan Airlines is flying high adding new destinations to
its list. Look at the
picture above. Isn't it an excellent tourism promotion ? Our nation's
pride, an elephant, eating garbage side by side with stray cattle
and crows. And where? Polonnaruwa, the highly spoken about ruin
city of Sri Lanka. Do not blame
the environmentalists. They have warned of the repercussions. If
the government does not take necessary steps to educate the masses
on the consequences of damaging the environment, the future elephants
will be only in plastic.
Signs of a
possible power cut are already showing up with constant power failures
due to various technical faults. The Ceylon
Electricity Board, exposing its bankruptcy, appears to be dependent
more and more on thermal power generation while it places more and
more burden on the consumer. In this context,
coal-powered plant that has been widely debated in the national
media should be implemented after overcoming objections raised by
environmentalists and politicians. The implementation
of the coal-powered plant will not only solve the country's power
crisis, it will also provide jobs to thousands and contribute immensely
towards the development of the southern parts of the country. Roy Pereira
First, it is
a waste of manpower when able-bodied people languish in remand prisons,
with innocent ones mingling with hardcore criminals, learning tricks
to cheat and steal. Secondly, the
family not only goes through a financial loss but also feels the
psychological pain due to the stigma that may even provoke in their
children a revenge feeling to hit back at society - a vicious cycle
that produces more and more criminals. It's time the government looked at ways of reducing the number of prisoners rather than building more prisons.Hope someone will stop and take notice. Dr. Marina
Thaha Reffai
I would like
to relate an incident, which took place on January 15 at the Camelot
Beach Hotel, Negombo. My husband
and I had arrived in Colombo that morning. Around 5.30 p.m., there
was a knock on our door. As my husband was in the shower, I opened
the door and saw a young man, wearing a sarong and a little girl
of about six to eight. He looked startled to see me. He said he
was looking for Mr. Kurt. Our surname is Kerr, hence the mix up.
I closed the door and realised it was a strange situation. I went
out again and saw the young man, having rechecked the room number,
walking further down the corridor. I felt very
alarmed and sickened by my thoughts. I told my husband and went
to the reception desk. I spoke to the lady receptionist who understood
my concern. I also spoke to the manager. They said they would check
the rooms at once. Later we inquired what had happened and were
told they had found out that one of the Germans was an uncle of
the girl. I hoped that this was true but I doubted it. I was in
a strange country and did not know what else I could do. I read the
article in your paper and thought you might like to know what had
happened. We have had a wonderful holiday in Sri Lanka and think
the people are charming and the island beautiful. We hope we shall
return again. Susan E.
Kerr
While strolling down Pansala Road during my visits to the Bandarawela town, I am perturbed to notice the sacrilege caused to the area by residents who dump garbage on both sides of the road and at the entrance to the temple premises. To me, it looked
as if this garbage had not been cleared for days by the local authorities. Whether they
be Buddhists or otherwise, these residents should bear in mind not
to disrespect a place of worship by polluting its environment. The local authorities,
on their part, should also act against those who use this spot as
a dumping ground for the disposal of their household garbage. Don Sarath
Abeysekera
Any settlement
reached under coercion, threats, duress, arm-twisting or any other
pressure tactics is nothing but naked terrorism. Don't our 'Do
Gooder' world democracies understand this simple truth? Does the
word 'terrorism' have a different meaning for Third World countries? Are the rich
countries trying to display their innate hypocrisy towards poor
nations? What happened
to 'Nana Pahana'? The very popular
and courageous monk, who conducted both these programmes, has again
been taken out of the TV screen! (He was last reinstated after a
court fight by his numerous admirers). What a loss to the viewers! Is this not
an attempt, once again, to suppress criticism against the "twin
curses" - the PA and UNP? The exercise
of power to stop exposure of the truth is a display of the dishonest
and treacherous stance of both these parties. When will the Sinhala
voter ever learn that the choice of throwing off the shackles of
corruption is in their own hands? TV Viewer FD holders hit by interest dip Retired private
sector employees are unable to do any business, deposit their life-long
savings and EPF, ETF benefits with the National Savings Bank under
its fixed deposit scheme. The Central
Bank, which has no firm policy to protect these FD holders, reduces
the interest rate arbitrarily! The monthly interest rate has come
down to 8.7% while the annual interest rate is 9%. The Central
Bank is talking about inflation and promoting industry and agriculture
sectors by offering them loans at low interest rates. But these
unfortunate FD holders will not withdraw their life-long savings
and invest them in business or elsewhere, as they do not want to
take a risk in the evening of their life. Whatever reduction is
made in the F.D. interest rates, they bear them silently and pray
to God to save them from their present predicament while the cost
of living is skyrocketing. M.R. Kariapper Cricket: Govt.
clean bowled Firstly, they
have contradicted their own statement issued on political platforms,
assuring everyone including politicians the right to exercise their
rights. Is the State licking its wounds after the Supreme Court
over-ruled its ban in the Arjuna Ranatunge case? It is high
time that someone with a sense of reasoning advised the Sports Minister
to think before he acts. There are capable
ministers who can head sports bodies and with their clout, better
results can be achieved. Was it not Minister Gamini Dissanayake
who pushed cricket to what it is today and is it not the wrong heads
of the Cricket Board thereafter who brought about the downfall of
cricket? Is it not a fact that the gentleman's game ended up in
fisticuffs with thugs ruling the roost at the last AGM? The solution is not to ban politicians or individuals but to legislate punitive measures whereby a corrupt sports administrator can be removed and severely dealt with. Ms. Pinto Jayawardena has analysed the controversy, voicing the concern of the public and citing people like J.R. Jayewardene, Dr N M Perera and Gamini Dissanayake who did yeoman service. So, over to you Prime Minister. Raymond Liyanage A great loss to the Muslim community S.B.C.
Halaldeen He started his career as a schoolteacher. He later became a Labour Officer and then Assistant Commissioner of Labour. He also served as an Assistant Commissioner of National Housing and AGA-designate Batticaloa. Later he became the personnel Manager at State Engineering Corporation, where he found many jobs for youths. Later he served in Saudi Airlines and on retirement he was in Colombo serving as a correspondent to Lake House newspapers and Saudi Gazette. An All Island J.P. and Attorney-at-Law, he was honoured a few years ago by the Y.M.M.A. Conference for the services he rendered to the youth movement as a committee member, assistant secretary, treasurer, general secretary, vice president and president. He was the founder president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum. He was also instrumental in forming the Fathima Educational Fund (FEF), which serves children from the underprivileged homes, providing them with job-related education. We had great
respect for him as he was a beloved father to us. We consulted him
when something important was to take place in the family. He also
formed an association called "Data Family Fund' with the aim
of helping the underprivileged members in the family. He was also the Assistant Secretary of the 'Baithul Mal Fund' till his death. He was married to Dr. (Mrs.). M.B. Pathumuththu, who also happened to be the first Muslim Woman Inspector of Schools and a pioneer in Muslim female education. She was also the first Muslim trained teacher and was the Principal of several Muslim Maha Vidyalayas in the island. He was the elder bother of S.B.C. Thassim, Vice President of Saudi American Bank, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was also the maternal uncle of Professor B.A. Hussainmiya, Senior Lecturer, Darussalam University, Brunei. He leaves behind his only brother Al-Haj S.B.C. Thassim and his sister Janeer Miskin. Beloved father of Azwer (Canada), Sara Zulficar (Sweden), Dr. Akbar, (Saudi) Dinar (Germany) and Rizanar, Mr. Halaldeen was fondly addressed by our family members as 'Darro' and I believe no one can fill his place. The Janaza left the residence at Kent Road, Colombo to Maligawatte Y.M.M.A. Headquarters, where people paid their last respects. After the Janaza prayers at Maligawatte Jummah Mosque the burial took place at Maligawatte burial ground. The large crowd present at his Janaza witnessed and confirmed that a great son was lost to the Muslim community and especially to his family. The family has also lost an intellectual giant, a great father, a writer and a man of vision who wanted to forge unity among the family members at large. 'Darro Kaka' I raise my hands in my daily prayers, asking a dua: "Ya Allah in his mercy grant him Jennathul Firdhouse, Aamin." Mohamed Wazeer
A Game
Ranger who braved many a threat H.K.C. Kumarasinghe The people who
have not heard of H.K.C Kumarasinghe, Game Ranger of the Yala National
Park who died under tragic circumstances on January 28, may be wondering
why so much has been said and written about him. Well-educated
with a degree from the Peradeniya University, Mr. Kumarasinghe was
a born leader, fearless and totally dedicated to his job. He was
well aware of the enormous risks he faced as the head of the Anti-Poaching
Unit at Yala Park. The dangers and death threats he received did
not stop him from carrying out his duty. He passionately believed
in the work he undertook. The commitment he displayed was amplified
by the fact that he often used his personal funds. Under his leadership,
the slaughter of animals at Yala was reduced significantly. It is
indeed difficult to put down in writing what a wonderful human being
he was. His subordinates, peers, seniors and those who knew him
had much respect for him and held him in high esteem. His work and
dedication should not go waste. This may well have been his last
wish. All those around him should help achieve his aim of eradicating
the menace of poaching and all other illegal activities from national
parks. I would also
like to pay a tribute to his late father, mother and family for
nurturing and moulding him to become the man he was. His name will
live on for many generations to come. Angels have
welcomed little Shani 'Letters
to the Editor' should be brief and to the point.
Address them to: 'Letters to the Editor, The Sunday Times, P.O.Box 1136, Colombo. Or e-mail to steditor@wijeya.lk or stfeat@wijeya.lk Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned. |
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