The Petroleum Corporation published several notices informing motorists of the availability of unleaded petrol at a number of petrol stations.
At present almost all petrol vehicles run on leaded petrol (3 Star). What the Petroleum Corporation need “ to do is to explain whether our vehicles would run on unleaded petrol? Should the Carburettor be adjusted ? What about mo-bikes ? etc.
They have now put the cart before the horse - or is it petrol before the car? What if the wrong petrol is pumped?
Another matter is why raise the price by Rs. 5/- ? The new price should be brought down by Rs. 5/- to be Rs. 45/- per litre.
Facts are certainly stranger than fiction, for it appears that information can travel faster over 5000 km from Trincomalee to the B. B. C. than to cover 250 km to reach the S. L. B. C.
The local news broadcast (9.00-9.15pm) on the S. L. B. C. on Friday July ll, contained only some flattering local news and a large segment of foreign news, while the 9.16 pm live broadcast from the B. B. C. coming just after, on the S. L. B. C. carried the curt headlines that eight people were killed during an LTTE attack on a Police station in Trincomalee.
We wonder whether there is provision in our statutes to remand the news editor of the B. B. C. for spreading panic and despair among the local people and denigrating our valiant fighting forces?
Incidentally, the Sirasa FM news at 10 pm on the same night carried even greater details of the attack in that six civilians including a pregnant woman and a child were amongst those dead.
It appears that at times new brooms do not sweep that well or they may even tend to sweep things under the carpet. Are these the shades of the new reforms we have been promised within the first 100 days, of which a considerable part is already over?
The S. L. B. C. is funded entirely by the people of this country. They have the inalienable right to get a fair, accurate and up-to-date coverage of actual local happenings from Point Pedro to Dondra Head. Lurid details of what is happening in Ruwanda, Bosnia, Russia, etc is not a priority for the ordinary people of this country.
Hence, we urgently request that the Media Minister should ensure that the local news broadcasts should not be a mere ego-boosting exercise or a chance to vilify the opposition but to be an unbiased information service to the people living even in the remotest villages.
Foreign news can be separately relayed at some other times for those who are thus interested. Trust the people and they will certainly trust you.
It is said that none are so blind as those who do not want to see or deaf as those who do not want to hear. Let not such people handle NEWS.
There are about 2000 houses in the Raddolugama Housing Scheme and a total population of 10,000 living in the scheme and its environs, who use the bus services. This is one of most lucrative routes of the Ja-ela Bus Depot and thousands of rupees worth of school season tickets are sold every month.
For the last week, the regular school bus is missing, thus inconveniencing hundreds of school children who are forced to take other buses and arrive late at school. This could be pardonable if it happened on one day but the situation has not been rectified nor another bus put to replace this bus.
I would request the Minister of Transport to look into this matter and put two regular school buses, one for girls and another for the boys, on a regular daily basis, from Monday to Friday.
I am a public servant who imported a three-year old diesel car in June, 1992 on a permit from the Government. The diesel tax imposed by the Government in 1995 came as a shock to me and most public servants who imported cars on permits, as such a tax was never heard of and is unique to this country. I would have kept my old petrol car and not gone in for a diesel car had I known of such a levy as it is unaffordable in keeping with our earnings.
However, with the greatest difficulty, I paid the tax of Rs. 10,000 before end December,1995 as there was a threat by the Government that those who do not meet this deadline would have to pay a 50 per cent penalty which once again is unheard of in any other part of the world and is unique to Sri Lanka. Subsequently, I had no problem in insuring my vehicle in July, 1996, upon presentation of the receipt for the payment of this tax.
Through the Budget that was presented in 1996, this unique tax was reduced to Rs. 5,000 due to pressure from the public and also from within the Govt. Parliamentary Group and this was some sort of relief. However, I got a rude shock at the time I went to insure my vehicle on the due date in July, 1997 when I was told that I have to pay Rs. 10,000 for the financial year, 96/97, plus a fine of Rs. 5,000 plus the tax of Rs. 5,000 for the financial year, 97/98, in order to insure the vehicle. This means that I have to find Rs. 20,000 plus the insurance premium which is over Rs. 6,000.
These types of unreasonable taxes which are levied in a confused manner with all sorts of rash penalties have the potential of leading people towards untoward or unethical ways of earning extra funds to meet their payment.
I hope that the powers-that-be and the Treasury officials who invented this Tax would review and evaluate the whole scheme critically.
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