SLT to monitor untangling phone lines from trees

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is to monitor the cutting of trees obstructing telephone wires after a number of complaints had reached it that agents of Sri Lanka Telecom enter premises and cut down trees, instead of their branches, a top SLT official said.

Even under the old Telecom ordinance the employees were given the right to cut down branches, not trees. However, SLT employees go into villages and cut down trees instead of their branches. This has been brought to light and now SLT is to monitor the cutting of trees and branches.

According to SLT, the persons authorised to cut branches are not its employees but only contractors, who had taken the law into their hands and were destroying valuable trees. Therefore SLT is now monitoring these acts, the official said.