Letters to the Editor

Shut the door to squandermania
Tens of thousands of hapless persons and their families particularly those internally displaced by the ethnic conflict and the tsunami of December 2004, are still between the devil and the deep blue sea for the cost of essential goods and services has been rising rapidly.

In the midst of untold suffering, people are shocked to hear that parliamentarians have availed themselves of a bonanza at the cost of the taxpayer.

It is known that the Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and the other MPs will be getting high increases in their emoluments with retrospective effect from 2001.

It has been reported that the reason for the move to increase payments to parliamentarians is to keep their salaries and perks up to the level of those payments made to the Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. That reason is indefensible and untenable when due consideration is given to the order, decorum and discipline maintained meticulously by the judges in their courts vis-a-vis the disorder and despicable behaviour of some members both in and out of the Parliament.

From the very day the present Parliament was to elect its Speaker certain MPs ran berserk in the hallowed hall of this assembly: subsequently an uncivilised culture has prevailed and the Speaker has had to adjourn proceedings to bring back order and sanity. Thus parliamentary time and precious resources of the country have been squandered.

There is a further relevant point to consider the minimum eligibility for entry to the judicial service of this country in contrast to the minimum eligibility to acquire a seat in Parliament through the necessary election process. Members of the judicial service are drawn from the academic and professional strata of our society. The minimum eligibility to enter Parliament is a different matter. Any registered voter of sound mind who has not committed certain offences can contest the election sans any academic, professional or other special achievements. In practice, even the election process is skewed by devious forces.

In the light of all this the argument that remuneration of the parliamentarians should be in line with those of judicial officers is ludicrous. As it is, the financial commitments to give effect to the increases proposed have not been revealed to the public along with what impact the increases in pay will have on other salary structures. It is hoped that others concerned will make their observations on this matter of national importance. Our nation badly needs thrift and savings: the door to squandermania has to be shut. Dear national leaders, please give the lead.

Stop this noisy pollution
Over the past several months many letters have been published in the newspapers concerning the unbearable noise pollution perpetrated by ice cream vendors and lottery ticket sellers. However, this menace goes on unabated, and regrettably, there does not seem to be any Authority to arrest this menace.
A couple of months ago I wrote to the respective CEOs of Ceylon Cold Stores and Cargills as these are the two main brands being sold by these vendors on bicycles. I presume these two companies have franchised the sales of their respective brands of ice cream and I suggested that they request their franchisees to restrict their sales to commercial areas, bus stands, railway stations, schools and such places and not disturb residential neighbourhoods. We who live in such areas make our procurements, including ice cream, from the supermarkets and have refrigeration facilities too.

The vendors who visit my neighbourhood daily, when people are resting or children studying, obviously do not have any business, as they are out very fast, but still they persist in polluting this area with their obnoxious music, instead of finding more lucrative outlets.

Unfortunately, we are helpless to report these matters as we do not know who is in charge. Perhaps the newspapers can do a service to society by highlighting this menace and inform the public the people to contact to report this menace.

A national chinthanaya for the betterment of the country and people
All the leaders of the political parties in this country have agreed at least on one issue, that they should get together and make a concerted effort to solve the ethnic problem which has already brought death to more than 50,000 people and caused mayhem in the north and the east and severe tension day in and day out in the South.

If the President is genuine in his statements about ushering peace to the country it is essential that he seek the full co-operation of the opposition parties, especially that of the UNP. Without the SLFP and UNP playing a major role together in this exercise, we will never reach the goal of peace in this country and the country will economically plunge from bad to worse.

I suggest that President Mahinda Rajapaksa should offer the premiership to Ranil Wickremesinghe and half the Cabinet should come from the parlimentarians of the UNP. President Rajapaksa should understand that, taking into consideration the number of votes Mr. Wickremesinghe polled at the Presidential stakes he deserves that political position. Obviously with a move like that some of the members of the SLFP will be unhappy. Now that the President has reached the pinnacle in his political career, he has to make some sacrifices politically to save the country and the people from the quagmire all of us are in at present.

If the LTTE takes a hard line and the negotiations fail to reach a consensus, the government will be compelled to look for a military solution. If that is the last option, we cannot go for it without the co-operation of the international community, specially India, America and the European Community. Leaving political rivalry aside, the President should accept the reality that he will be in a strong position to approach those countries for help if he does that together with the leadership of the UNP.

If these countries favour a military solution that itself may be enough to force the LTTE to change its hard-line stance. To obtain such co-operation from the UNP naturally the President has to follow a give-and-take policy. I hope the President will pay heed to my humble opinion and amend his "Chinthanaya" accordingly.

Peace talks and Muslim factor
I being a citizen of Sri Lanka, wholeheartedly welcome and appreciate the move of the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to resume the stalled peace talks with the presumably unbiased facilitation of the Norwegian envoy.

The atrocious events that took place in the north and east since the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE have caused panic and a fear psychosis among the Muslim community about their future in these regions.

They have almost lost confidence in the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. Hundreds of Muslims were killed and their properties destroyed for no reason other than being Muslims during the peace process under the very nose of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the international community. The Muslims in the north and east suffered immensely in terms of men and materials during the peace process. No tangible action has been taken either by the government or the LTTE to curb and curtail such events in spite of the existence of the so-called peace.

In addition to this, the recent tsunami that hit the coastal belt of Sri Lanka brought untold hardships and suffering to the Muslims who are still languishing in temporary shelters in this area. No proper action has been taken by any of the parties concerned to relocate or to resettle the displaced.

The PTOMS that was signed between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE is a classic example as to how the Muslims of the north and east are being treated by these parties and how they were let down even though they were severely affected by the tsunami. During the previous peace talks, it had been accepted by the parties to the peace process, that access would be given to a separate Muslim delegation to articulate the aspirations of the Muslims of the north and east.

A lasting solution to the two-decade-long ethnic strife in the north and east could only be achieved by giving access to the Muslim factor in future peace talks.

Students beware!
Students aspiring to do professional studies in private institutions should be cautious when called upon to pay foreign exam fees, as I am aware that there are certain institutes collecting exam fees in advance, which is against the norms set by the professional bodies. The money thus collected is deposited in their own bank, generating interest which the institute enjoys.

The actual remittance overseas is controlled by them and released subject by subject as the student sits the paper. In addition, the students are called upon to pay whatever the prevailing currency fluctuating rate.

Students beware. The best way would be to make contact with the overseas office of the professional body and make direct remittances to them without going through any third party. These parasites should not be allowed to thrive on people's earnings.

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