Letters to the Editor

Another budget, another blow for poor pensioners
Another budget has been presented with broken promises for pensioners and retired people. The latest budget blow comes at a time when pensioners and private sector retirees who have deposited their money in private banks have been hit by the lowering of interest rates.

In some families, pensioners are the sole breadwinners. Apart from food, a major portion of their income is spent on medicine and illness.

To make matters worse, the budget has proposed that income obtained in the form of interest should be pooled and taxed from January 1, 2004, unless the depositors produce a certificate from the Inland Revenue Department confirming the interest as their sole income. This proposal is unfair as the time available is hardly adequate. Besides, obtaining a certificate from a government department is a nightmare, with elderly pensioners being pushed from pillar to post by officials demanding various documents.

Why does the government, which grants tax relief and concessions to the rich who avoid taxes, want to harass pensioners? Given the plight of the pensioners, the government should introduce the new system from April 1 or do away with the requirement to produce a certificate from the Inland Revenue Department.

It is not fair to implement changes to the Withholding Tax in the middle of a financial year when most of the other changes have been planned from April 1, 2004.
I humbly request the President and the Prime Minister to intervene in this matter.

Kandy, where dogs are not gassed
The Save Our Friends Association (SOFA) of Kandy was formed recently to look after, treat and find homes for stray dogs caught by the municipality. Now these dogs are not gassed to death as was done previously. The aim of the society is to promote a humane control programme for the stray dog population and an alternative method of rabies prevention.

The society gets funding from the Swiss welfare society, ATS. The animals are looked after by a team of young volunteers. This is a pilot project by the Kandy Municipality and the Mayor and Veterinary Surgeon should be commended for it. Animal lovers should help this society.

If this project succeeds in eliminating rabies in the Kandy district, it could be introduced to the whole island. For more information please contact: 081-4470861.

Not fast post but past post
There is no doubt that the service offered by our Postal Department is unique. I don't think that anywhere in the world, but Sri Lanka, Christmas cards posted in December, will reach the addressee only in March the following year. This was the fate of the card I sent my brother who is in England.

I received my Dialog telephone bill on November 18, with the due date for payment marked as the 10th of the month. The envelope was franked "Colombo - 26.10.03". It had taken 23 days for the bill to reach Dehiwela from Colombo. Inefficiency seems to be the rule at the Ministry of Posts.

Sinhale, oh Sinhale: Learn to think and live multi-racial
I was perturbed over the article, 'Original land of Sinhale' by Lt. Colonel A.S. Amarasekera (The Sunday Times, November 23). I must admit it was well presented and proved convincingly that Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhala race. But surely, this is not the point. Prabhakaran is saying the same thing about Eelam, and he too has excellent arguments which our Tamil brethren must find very convincing. In the end, one believes what one wants to believe. This kind of article takes us nowhere.

Let us leave history aside for a moment and consider the reality of today where we have, living among us, people of different races and religions. They are human beings with hopes and aspirations just like us, and they have a stake in our land by the simple fact that they are here, have been here for ages and have no other home. They are Sri Lankans, no question about it. The action Lt. Colonel Amarasekera proposes in his article will relegate these people to the level of second-class citizens. They will not accept this, nor will the world at large think well of it.

How then should we handle our minorities? The more enlightened among us will say we should take them into our fold as equal partners, benefit by the exchange of cultures and strengthen our country with their contribution. This will be the civilized thing to do - in fact it seems to be the obvious thing to do. Sri Lanka was like that until our politicians stirred things up in 1956.

The peace process will not stand much chance as long as militants on both sides dig their heels in and refuse to budge. The moderates may be in the majority, but the militants call the shots. If we have any hopes of achieving lasting peace, this must be through genuine rapprochement. We must begin to sincerely think and live multi-racial. Articles like those by Lt. Colonel Amarasekera will only poison our minds.

I was in England last month and witnessed Diwali celebrations in London - the crackers and fireworks went on well past midnight on both nights and it was much louder than in Colombo. There was not one single complaint from the "majority" - indeed they mingled freely with the minorities and seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

England series: Whither fairplay?
I feel that giving the 'trophy' and full prize money to the Sri Lankan team in the recently concluded one-day series against England, after winning just one match in a three-match series was ludicrous and unfair, as the other two matches were washouts.
This meant that England had lost the series but in fact it was not the case. It would have been more sportsmanlike if only one third (1/3) of the full prize money was given to the Sri Lankan team and the 'trophy' withheld.

Again if England won the second match and the third was abandoned, then the prize money should have been shared equally and the 'trophy' withheld for a future encounter between the two countries.

This would not only have been in the spirit of the game but would also have made cricket lovers feel happy that fairplay had prevailed.

Steps to reduce garbage
At a time when garbage is a grave health hazard and an omnipresent eyesore, here are a few steps to ease the problem, if not solve it altogether:

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