Letters to the Editor

Politicians should be kept out of peace talks
Politicians are well known for having agendas of their own and therefore must be kept out of the peace talks with the LTTE. The LTTE leaders are not elected representatives nor are the negotiators elected representatives, but nominated by the LTTE for their astuteness and intelligence.

The UNF gave too much to the LTTE as they were thinking of the Sinhala and Tamil vote while the UPFA - that is the PA and the JVP- are daggers drawn and cannot arrive at a consensus. In this stalemate situation the elected government representatives cannot negotiate successfully.

The other reason is that the government will nominate its stooges whose interests are not of the nation but of themselves and of those whom they stooge to. Negotiating with a murderous and marauding crowd needs a high degree of astuteness and intelligence. This is something politicians and their nominees lack.Politicians are not only unintelligent but also intellectual mediocrities who will sell their souls for survival. Their interests are of themselves and their political makers and masters.

So, like when Sir Winston Churchill enlisted the help of some intelligent people who had no military training to plan the strategy during World War II, we have to enlist the help of intelligent and astute people to negotiate with the LTTE.These people can be drawn from the professional and learned classes.

There are plodders even among this lot but there are some intelligent people who are also not political stooges. Even the LTTE intelligentsia would have respect and prefer to deal with such negotiators rather than with political stooges with no brains.

They gave their l ives, can’t we spare a minute?
I was driving past High Level Road a week ago, and saw something we see this time of year. A man with an artificial leg who was a soldier holding a poppy wreath. I didn't stop. Neither did anyone else. I spent the entire day with a deep sense of disgust at myself.

Later that evening I purchased the poppy wreath; and during the next week I looked at the many cars I passed, and was shocked to find fewer than ten having the poppy wreath during the entire week. I wasn't too surprised. I remember one evening last year, waiting on High Level Road for a bus. I was standing close to these men who were standing in the hot sun, and watched in horror as nobody stopped for the 20 minutes that I was there.

People are in such a hurry. Either they are rushing to work, classes or back home. The people who would stop would get a minute late perhaps to arrive at their destination; so what? Some of the men who fought for us never came home. And somewhere thousands of women have been told that their husbands will never come home. Thousands of children have been told their fathers are no more.

We go out, have fancy dinners, meet friends and lead a happy life. This is a blessing that we have. But what of those who weren't so blessed, and sacrificed their lives so that we can continue to lead ours? What about those left behind to pick up the pieces, of a noble life lost?

Nobody reminds us how lucky we are to be living this life, but once a year, a soldier, a man who has fought for our lives, stands on the road selling a poppy. And we pass him by, without giving him a moment's thought. At least for one day, for one week, we should have the decency to buy a poppy. We owe our lives to them. Stop your car. Make time. Buy a poppy. Wear it proudly. There are thousands of cars coming into the city everyday, we should all have a poppy wreath in honour of those who have died. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every person in this town, and this country for one day, thought about the soldiers and law enforcement officers who risk everything to protect us? Just for one day.

Drunken-driving and lopsided laws
I was amazed to read in your newspaper that a driver can be prosecuted for drunken-driving on the basis of a breathalyzer test. I do not know what the law in this country is, but for example, in England the law says that it is an offence to drive under the influence of liquor and a person is deemed to be under the influence of liquor if the alcohol content in his blood is above a certain limit which the breathalyzer cannot determine.

What the breathalyzer will reveal is whether a person had been taking liquor or not. Once the breathalyzer test is positive, the policeman will have to take the driver to the police station and the police doctor will take a blood sample from the driver.

Prosecution is effected if the blood test shows the alcohol content is above the legal limit. Also once the breathalyzer test is positive the driver is not allowed to drive the vehicle. In Sri Lanka, a driver is prosecuted on the basis of a breathalyzer test for drunken-driving but funnily enough having charged the driver for drunken-driving, he is allowed to drive away in his vehicle.

Invisible traffic lights: Lankan speciality
Motorists approaching traffic lights must be able to see them early and easily. Even in small cities of other countries, traffic lights are fixed 30 to 40 feet above ground level. In Sri Lanka they are at a height of seven to nine feet and therefore, not only a bus or a lorry, but even a three-wheeler could cover the light from the driver of a car behind it. This could easily cause an accident.

When the vehicles in front are moving on the green, others have to just follow and may do so even when the light has turned red without their knowledge. It was only a year ago that Elvitigala Mawatha was widened. It has been done very well with street lamps looking down majestically from treetop level, but it is a pity that the traffic lights along that road are no different to those installed 20 to 30 years ago.

The poles containing the traffic lights are erected at the edge of the road, and some motorists knock them down. When they are damaged they are not repaired for weeks. They should really be a few feet away from the edge of the road and the light should be fitted to a horizontal bar at the top overlying the outermost lane, like the one opposite Carey College near the National Hospital.

There is another group of people who try to benefit from these lights in certain places like the Kanatta roundabout. When the drivers in the stationary vehicles are focusing their attention on the lights, they are distracted by beggars. This could cause accidents. I have yet to see a traffic policeman sending them away.

Dr. Wijaya Godakumbura
Member, National Committee for the Prevention of Injuries

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