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Red tape delays civil aviation revival Private sector
efforts to revive the civil aviation industry are being hampered
by bureaucratic red tape and alleged lack of co-operation from the
authorities, according to amateur pilot and former motor racing
star David Peiris. David Peiris
Motor Company (which Peiris owns) has shelved plans by a subsidiary
to start an advanced flying school and is facing delays in getting
permission for private flights to several airfields around the island,
he said. He also alleged double standards on the part of the Civil Aviation Authority in allowing a recent hot air balloon tour of the island by foreign tourists without the security and safety approvals that domestic operators were required to obtain. However, the
authorities concerned denied the allegations and maintained that
the government was working towards approving civil flights to domestic
airfields according to an overall plan. Peiris said
in an interview that DP Aviation Services Ltd had put on hold plans
to start a flying school to provide instrument and multi-engine
training for pilots wanting to join airlines operating big passenger
jets. Demand for
training came not only from local students but also from those in
South Asia and the Middle East. Students from the Middle East were
finding it difficult to get access to flying schools in the United
States following the terrorist attacks in September 2001 by al-
Qaeda operatives some of whom received training in US schools. Peiris said
he had asked the Airports and Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka to
lease a former Upali Aviation hangar now lying idle. DP Aviation
Services has limited hangar space. But the request
was refused on the grounds that the hangar was being used for AASL
requirements. AASL chairman
Hemasiri Fernando said they were using the hangar because AASL was
unable to get back buildings given to the Sri Lanka Air Force. "We're
trying to get back our hangar from the SLAF. We have got so many
requests for hangar space. We told the people who want new hangar
space that we'll give them land to build new hangars," he said. Peiris also
said permission to fly his twin-engined Beech Barron light aircraft
to airfields other than Palaly for staff business trips had not
been approved despite repeated requests and that he had to comply
with numerous security procedures that almost amounted to harassment
although he had been vetted by intelligence authorities on previous
occasions. "We spent
over Rs. 8 million to install new engines on the Beech Baron which
we brought in 1994 and had operated to almost all airfields. It
helped to drastically cut down travel time to our outstations operations,"
he said. However, the
authorities recently allowed foreign pilots to operate commercial
flights of hot air balloons carrying tourists on a tour of the island,
which were not subject to the same stringent security and safety
procedures, he said. "No way can the government develop civil aviation with this attitude," Peiris said. Director General
of Civil Aviation H.M.C. Nimalsiri acknowledged that the balloon
operators had not complied with all the usual approvals but said
the flights were allowed following Defence Ministry clearance to
promote tourism. He also said
the security procedures were a requirement of the intelligence agencies,
which applied to everybody and that individuals could not be exempt
despite previous clearances or being known to the authorities. The Civil Aviation
Authority was in the process of getting clearance for the resumption
of domestic flights to other airfields, he said. "These airfields have been under SLAF control for a long time. We want to inspect them before allowing civil flights. We need an overall plan which is being developed," Nimalsiri said. CNT appointed partner for Symantec Popular virus guard specialists Symantec Corporation last week announced the appointment of a local distributor. Ceylinco Networking Technologies International (CNT), a leading IT solutions distributor and member of the Ceylinco group, will now distribute enterprise and retail products and appliances of Symantec in Sri Lanka. Symantec, which
defines itself as a Internet security technology company offers
a range of solutions and appliances in firewall security, vulnerability
management, intrusion prevention, content filtering, virus protection,
e-mail filtering and remote management technologies. Though the
company will offer both enterprise and retail solutions, initially
the focus would be on the enterprise market offering solutions to
large companies like banks, etc. The reason for this approach, according
to Keith Samuel, CNT's Chief Operating Officer, is the level of
awareness on the need for security. He said no serious attention
is being paid to security in most organizations. Joy Gosh, Country
Manager, Symantec India said that Sri Lanka has similar issues for
such products as in India. The pricing, a main concern for local
organizations will be addressed by offering the same pricing levels
that happen to be the lowest in the Asia Pacific region. However, he
said that the biggest benefit would be availability of pre-sales
support and extended support for all their products locally. Samuel said that the most sought after product in the retail market, Symantec's Norton Antivirus software would be available at a reasonable price range. (AA) HSBC staff enjoy new challenges HSBC, as an international bank, is providing its staff with the chance to face new challenges and experiences outside the workplace under some new projects. Mark Humble,
the bank's CEO in Colombo, said the HSBC group by making the largest
ever single donation to three environmental charities has secured
a chance to send staff members from all levels on exciting Earthwatch
projects at various locations around the world. So far eight
staff members from Sri Lanka have been chosen to be involved in
projects as diverse as tracking jaguars in Brazil and excavating
Roman forts in Britain. The Bank ensures that the individuals chosen
for these projects are given two weeks' paid leave, an allowance
to purchase any equipment they may need for the project, and the
chance to share their experiences with colleagues upon their return. Humble said
in a statement that one of the bank's biggest assets is the vibrant,
dedicated and hardworking individuals who make up the Colombo team
at HSBC. "The hard work and the commitment demonstrated by
the people who look after our customers is something that I see
every day." He said the
Earthwatch project is just one of the many ways they try to ensure
that staff are rewarded. One of the HSBC Group's policies is to share its success with under-privileged children within the communities it serves - especially during local festivities. "In all child-centred projects - during Vesak and Christmas - our staff volunteer to work in their own time to ensure that the children of the Maharagama Cancer Hospital and selected orphanages, have a good time. Over the years they have built a close relationship with these children - so much so that these cultural events are much anticipated by staff and children alike." Coming clean makes good business sense By Random
Access Memory (RAM) What does this
all mean to business? Very simply, it is great news and must be
welcome by all. Those who are familiar with the 'job for my boy',
'contribution to the exhibition', 'contract as the payback', 'my
network and no one else's', 'contribute to my fund' calls by politicians
know that this means that the consumer pays more for what he or
she buys. Good business must keep its costs down and provide the
benefit of an excellent quality product or a service to the consumer
at the most reasonable price. Good business calls for being socially
responsible. This does not mean buying into the politician and his
goodwill, but ensuring a happy and content customer to earn his
or her goodwill and be of service to society at large. What undue demands and undue expenses of politicians do to the economy and business, is to place very high costs on doing business, be it by the private or the public sector. The so-called 'engine of growth', the private sector, is to take the full blame for so meekly and readily giving into the demands. Only a very few have had the guts to say no and they, we know, have faced the wrath of not only the increases in the cost of doing business but also not having ease of access to their fair share of the ability to contribute. The insider club of business, be it the legitimates or the gunrunners, thrive on the 'socio-politico' percussion's heartbeat. The PM and Mr.
Jayasuriya must realize, that it is the system that creates the
culture of non-meritocracy, corruption and misuse of power, which
in turn lead to these deeds they have set themselves to clean up.
Did you not appoint the Ministers and respond to their deeds good
and bad, the past year and a half? Did you stay silent when some
of them insisted that it was their God given right to make the wrong
appointments or drive actions that were blatantly wrong? The clean up
we think must extend beyond the individuals to the system. A system
such as in Germany where all political campaign contributions are
made to the parties and not to individuals need prevail. All such
contributions must be made public with complete transparency as
to who has given what to which party. An ongoing process and a system
to investigate reported wrongdoings of 'any one' must be established.
Encouraging the revival of the activities of the watch dog organization
'Transparency International' with the blessings of the government
with good impartial men and women serving, might also be a sound
first step. These are only some random thoughts. But for us the citizens of mother Lanka to know that the clean up is not just hog wash before the June donor conference or a quick fix response to the not so palatable recent media exposure of the fancy doings of politicians and their kith and kin, we need to see solid action on the deed front. May you the 'Mr. Clean ups' have the courage and determination to be leaders and not mere politicians. For it makes good 'business' sense to do so, since you claim you support good business. Standards handbook on technical drawings The fourth edition
of the ISO Standards Handbook - Technical Drawings - has been published
in response to demand and is now available at the SLSI (Sri Lanka
Standards Institution). SLSI said the
handbook is at the SLSI library and could be referred by anyone.
The handbook is a useful tool for designers, engineers, technologists
and students in technical faculties of institutes and universities
and for all those dealing with technical drawings. One of the main demands of technical drawings is that they should be understood by all users and to meet this requirement a broad use of international standards is required. Hyde Park residencies almost sold out Hyde Park Residencies,
the newest upmarket housing project from Ceylinco Homes International
built at a cost of Rs. 1.4 billion, is almost sold out, officials
said Deputy Chairperson, Ceylinco Homes International, Padmini Karunanayake
told reporters that 90% of the apartments have been sold even prior
to completion of the project by end March this year with most being
purchased by Sri Lankan expatriates. She said 78 of the 88 apartments
have been sold. Expectations are that the value of the apartments
would appreciate by around 20 - 30% annually. This exclusive apartment complex, designed by Harvey and Avignano, one of Australia's finest architectural and design companies while Design Consortium being the local consultants, was built on 140 perches of land. The 14-level complex in addition to the 88 apartments has a swimming pool, gym, business centre, restaurant, launderette, mini market and 24-hour security. |
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