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Concern over foreign intelligence expert
The Page 1 story of The Sunday Times of July 20 horrified and angered me.
It concerned the presence within our national intelligence outfit of a foreigner, and worse, planted there by a Minister.

It is one thing to have foreign experts train our intelligence gatherers but it is something different to have them sit at the national intelligence conferences.
It reflects a serious lack of appreciation of the concept of national intelligence, an equal lack of respect for the nation's sovereignty and insofar as it was done without the authority of the President and evidently without the knowledge even of the Prime Minister, but on the initiative of a minister, who is not even the Minister of Defence, a dangerous drift in the politics of this country.

This issue raises several important questions. First, those who know anything about the development of national intelligence gathering in the country during the past 20 years know that we have amidst us several local, retired intelligence officers, who in their day, when they were allowed to work without political interference, did an excellent professional job.

I do not want to cite names but I know there are at least half a dozen such men living in retirement. There is nothing an American intelligence expert can teach our present setup that these men do not know.

It is a curse of our times that we ditch our own professionals and experts and opt for foreign "experts" merely because they are foreign. Secondly, that the Commander-in-Chief, who is also the head of National Security, should have been ignored when a decision to abrogate normal intelligence procedures was taken, is a serious portend. This does not concern Chandrika Kumaratunga the person, but it has everything to do with the inviolability of the institution of Presidency.

If our national intelligence will not respect the Presidency, whoever the incumbent, in whose name are they gathering national intelligence? Thirdly, I would like to know whether there are any self-respecting members of the cabinet left with even a semblance of patriotism.

In my view, if there are any such, they will not only protest, but will ask for the resignation of the minister who inserted this mole within our national intelligence.
Acquiescence by them in this violation of standard intelligence practice is the measure of the deterioration in the quality of our national politics.

Stanley Jayaweera
Avadhi Lanka Activist

A big sham at Sathosa
Which shop in Sri Lanka is the most spacious and has the largest car park of its own? It is the Sathosa (CWE) on Jawatte Road, Colombo 5. Recently its premises were renovated at enormous cost, but service has deteriorated rapidly. Due to the lack of a variety of items, not many visit this outlet now. The shelves are filled with large quantities of the same item, obviously to hoodwink the minister in charge.

Can the management care to tell the public whether the monthly income of this supermarket, kept open 24 hours a day, is adequate to cover the cost of the electricity bill of the air-conditioned building?

If the Foreign Employment Bureau, which was located opposite was not shifted, at least those who came from far to this bureau could have relaxed within the Sathosa premises.

Not even 500 yards from this Sathosa is a supermarket, probably one tenth its size but with a wider variety of goods. In the case of CTB buses it was not uncommon to find private arrangements for the benefit of private bus owners. No one can be blamed for assuming that a similar arrangement exists between these two supermarkets for the benefit of the private one. Over to you Minister.

Disgusted Housewife
Attidiya

Continue the UNP clean-up process
There were reports that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also leader of the UNP, had decided to withdraw the party membership of four politicians, for getting involved in nefarious activity.

The Prime Minister should be commended for this exemplary action. I hope he will continue his relentless effort to punish all unworthy party members, irrespective of their position. The UNP, from its inception in 1947, has been a disciplined party. The drop in standards among some of its members at present is due to the degeneration of society in general.

I request the PM to be constantly vigilant and rid the party of errant members, as there is a large number of educated, eminent citizens who are willing to join up once the black sheep are rooted out.

The Premier should also launch a clean-up campaign to discipline errant members of the Public Service. The Public Service, too, in the post-colonial period up to 1970, was respected and disciplined. I started my public career as a member of the then distinguished General Clerical Service, selected from an open competitive examination.

Dr. Nalin Mendis
Negombo

Holidays make us lazy
Sri Lanka enjoys a large number of public holidays though it is one of the poorest countries in the world. No government will be able to change this holiday pattern, for Lankans have a certain attitude towards such holidays. If a holiday falls in the middle of the week or after a weekend, they take one or two more days off and go on long vacations.

All these holidays have made workers lazy. They don't work for more than one hour on a normal working day.

Barring the Sinhala and Hindu New Year, Vesak, Poson and one holiday for each religious group, the others should be removed from the calendar. Hindus can enjoy Deepavali, Muslims should have the right to select one holiday and for Christians it should be Christmas. Let each group have the liberty of choosing their own holiday.

K.C. Perera
Colombo 9

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