It is understood that in China it is mandatory to build a Bio-gas plant in place of toilet pits in every house that is built. As I was very interested in this subject I contacted the agriculture section of the University of Peradeniya which promptly sent me a mason to build a plant for me in the new house that I was building. It cost me only Rs. 3000 in 1989 for the material and labour, to build it. (This is the Chinese system with no moving parts.)
I have only three members in my family and some dogs. The gas I get is enough to cook my morning meals. When the gas is over in the morning by evening it is automatically replenished (I had to use a few wheelbarrows of cowdung initially to get the bacteria to start the chemical process and it is now used only very occasionally to supplement what gets into the gas chamber.)
This system has many distinct advantages other than the gas obtained.
a) Ajacent to the gas chamber there is a cemented pit about 4 feet in diameter and about 5 feet deep. This collects a liquid that is given out after the reaction of giving out the gas. This liquid which is completely odourless is very rich of Nitrogen, and is an ideal manure for the plants. I have grown a few vegetable plants which flourish with this liquid. (However much you put this to a plant it will not destroy the plant unlike urea where too much of it destroys the plant.) Please note that this liquid that is collected in this pit is so rich in Nitrogen that no mosquito or any insect could breed in it. It is a common sight to see dead frogs floating in it.
c) Your toilet will never get blocked when you are using a Bio- gas system, as it is designed in a such way that if there is any problem in the Bio-gas chamber the stuff will automatically be diverted to a standby pit. The Bio-gas chamber or the pit which collects the Nitrogen rich liquid will never overflow as it will again divert most of the liquid to the S/BI pit, when it reaches a certain level. At this time you must see that the Nitrogen rich liquid which is collected in the pit adjacent to the gas chamber is emptied to about half. Normal toilet pits fills up in three four years after continuous use and have to be emptied. This will never happen when using a Bio-gas plant as the stuff inside the chamber gets pulverized, thereby leaving nothing.
d) The cost of construction of a Bio-gas plant may be the same as constructing a two compartment toilet pit or even cheaper. Please note that LPG gas cookers have to be modified to work on Bio-gas. The nozzle in LPG gas cookers has been made extremely small in diameter, due to its high pressure. To work on Bio-gas this has to be made a bit larger to accommodate the low pressure inherited in it.
It is a well known fact that the medical profession is taking the public to ransom through Trade Unions. The Govt. is either too weak, or reluctant to make a firm commitment, except to create further anamolies. In this scenario, I consider it a God-sent opportunity that the R and AMO’s on the one hand, and University non-academic staff on the other, see the ‘on call’ and ‘Academic Allowances’ as a travesty of justice. For neither are the Doctors ‘on call’ all the time, nor the University teachers devoted ‘full academic research’. Both these categories spend their off duty hours in lucrative private practice. The others see it as an act of cheating. Further these professionals suppress any challenger forgetting that many of them had the initial advantage through circumstances only.
Since the common denominator is obvious, the Govt. should ban private practice to those entitled to the above allowances, with immediate effect. (except at the Govt. Hospitals, for a reasonable fee. All Nursing Homes employing such officers should be affiliated to Govt. Hospitals). Very strict penalties should be imposed on offenders.
If this measure does not correct them, there is no alternative but to declare these categories as Essential Services with attendant penalties for law breakers.
R. Manickandran and Murugesu of Puttalam in their letter headlined ‘They must learn to live with satire’ in The Sunday Times of June 1, have been critical of the protest made by Dulanjalee and the former Mayor of Colombo on the telecasting of the TNL programme ‘Always breakdown’.
Decent prople can live with satire when it is directed at people who are alive and in the public eye and in the public interest, but when satire is directed at a dedicated leader who worked for his country and the people and was put to a cruel death by an assassin, it is no longer satire, and it becomes offensive to decent people.
There is something called good taste and this form of satire is fit only for the garbage dump and probably enjoyed by perverse morons.
Incidentally would Manickandran and Murugesu have considered it satire ‘to live with’ if a Tamil Leader like Amirthalingam who was also assassinated, had been telecast as a person in Hell?
The entrance to De Silva Place, off Watarappola Road, Mount Lavinia, where around 150 people reside was widened to 15 feet from about eight feet after several agitations, protests and requests by the residents of this road.
Residents dump their garbage opposite the entrance to De Silva Place, thus obstructing vehicular traffic coming to and from De Silva Place.
On account of the non-shifting of the telephone post at the entrance of De Silva Place, the purpose of having widened this road from 8 feet to 15 feet is lost as the telephone post yet stands in its original position being an impediment to the vehicular traffic.
The telephone post obstructing the path of vehicular traffic should be shifted to the side of the broader part of the road.
Spreading branches Tentacle-like Interlacing, intertwining Forming a canopy Counteracting. Harsh scorching effects Of the mid-day sun. ‘neath whose cooling shadows man feels refreshed Shade provider For the homeless, the wanderer Or rest for the traveller. In whose deep recesses nesting birds Send out their mating calls or herald with a morning song the dawn of yet another day. Along whose trunks Playful squirrels race With shriek-shrill cries pausing awhile To nibble at its bark or its luscious fruit making its deep dark hollows their abode. Blooms bursting forth in gay abandon A riot of colour Splashing the countryside Carpeting the asphalt jingle Gladdening the heart of man.
Our beautiful motherland needs peace and unity at any cost. All are aware of it and all are craving for it. We are tired of talking and it is time that we implement them in our lifestyle.
Inter-racial marriages could be a way to solve this problem of bringing the two communities together. Still it is not easy; because, it is not two people whom we are trying to bring together but two families, and two communities. These families and these communities have their own cultures, customs and traditions with regard to their lifestyle. Thus even if two persons marry, unless these inborn differences are sorted out among themselves, it would be difficult to have mixed marriages as a solution to the present problem that we have in our motherland. It is important to view marriage as two families who are going to be together than two persons who will be united.
Marriage, the union of a man and woman as husband and wife, is the recognition of this family by the existing society. Different meanings could be attributed to marriage. One would be to highlight the ceremony which takes place to make a man and a woman husband and wife. The other would stress husband-wife relationship. To recognize the marriage, laws and regulations have been formulated according to the different cultural and religious principles. No doubt marriage was, is and will be a universal human experience.
As sociological difference emerged, legal systems too changed, mostly in keeping with the traditions and cultures of the locality or country. At times, western or first world marriage laws were imposed on the third world countries not taking into account the age old traditions and customs which went to make marriage- family so natural and cultural. No doubt today many third world countries follow the marriage laws borrowed from the west.
It would be worthy of note to view marriage in general in Sri Lanka, in order to understand the country’s customs and traditions. Even as the family is the biological unit, the village may be considered the social unity of the national organization in Sri Lanka. It is not selfsufficing functionally, economically or socially but it can be so if hard pressed to it. The united appearance manifests itself in large-scale undertakings. A sentimental attachment binds the members of each village. This unity is clearly seen at functions and the strongest of these bonds was marriage. Certain villages are still in the habit of inter-marrying to such a degree as to establish strong reminiscences of a system of dual organization.
Marriage celebration or the function of the marriage feast included all the traditional customs too. Since caste system did take a prominent role in the forming of a couple- man and woman, the Sri Lankan parents did look for partners for their children in their particular caste. Generally in a village all the people were of the same caste. Even though this is the age old Sinhalese and Tamil social structure, these traditions today have lost their vigour. In the cities or urban areas caste system is generally forgotten although privately they practise it. So much so that in the village, each person would be quite aware of his caste to be treated with preference. Even if many do know or give priority to the above traditional institution, the establishment of new institutions and encouragement of western methods are combining to disintegrate the older system.
Even though people have different upbringing and have other modes of looking at reality, the structure of the mind itself is everywhere the same; it is commnication between people of the different cultures that keeps all one, although it is very difficult. With the many difficulties we face in trying to understand one’s culture and customs and with the personal and cutltural biases and limitations, we must and have to understand the cultures, traditions and the customs people follow in all four corners of the world. As Gertz in his book ‘The interpretation of Cultures’ would say that any one trying to understand another’s culture or customs must put oneself in that position. No doubt that this would deepen the knowledge of one’s own culture and then would also make one to discover another world of people. It is like putting oneself into another’s skin. Thus unless and until one appreciates and accepts one anothers cultures and customs the solution to the age old problem in our country would only be a mirage.
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