The Sri Lankan National Flag is flying high these days at our cricket grounds.
However
it is a matter of concern to see the Lion Flag being subjected to what
I may call humiliation. The younger ones among the viewers at these matches
use the National Flag in a disrespectful manner by wearing it like a shawl
round their shoulders, or tied round the waist. I have seen some of them
tying the flag like a turban round the head.
It is indeed a matter for regret that this is being done. As far as I know there are certain conditions laid down for the proper display of the National Flag. It is therefore necessary that our younger generation is properly educated in this respect, and there is no better place where this could be done than in schools.
It is good if the Education Ministry takes note of this and has it instilled into the minds of all school children that the Lion Flag, the symbol of our nation's unity, should not be treated lightly but respected as it deserves.
In the article on the Katunayake Expressway published in The Sunday Times last week, the sub-heading, the 2nd paragraph and the 4th paragraph have the following lines:
"No one doubts the need". "There is no longer, a debate as to whether the proposed road is necessary; "There is general agreement that a new route linking the airport and Colombo is a priority development activity". These need to be clarified.
There are several alternative ways to solve the perceived problems on the Negombo Road:-
1. Double track the railway and run a good train service for passengers
and containers.
2. Build Mattakkuliya Bridge over the Kelani River; improve as a two-lane
highway the existing road passing Elakanda, Uswetakeiyawa, Bopitiya etc.
and joining the Negombo Road beyond Ja Ela.
3. Restrain use of low occupancy vehicles (LOVs, ie. cars and vans) by
increasing the cost of parking or fuel or both, or reducing central parking
facilities.
Leaving out the last option which may not be politically acceptable, the three physical solutions may be compared:-
Alternative Cost Completion
Rs. Million period
Katunayake
Expressway 5,000 5 years
Mattakkuliya
route 2,000 4 years
Railway
Upgrading 1,700 2 years
The new Katunayake Expressway alignment needs preliminary sand filling costing Rs. 1,500 million to ensure 95% confidence against future subsistence, hence there is no absolute assurance of its technical feasibility. Dr. Amal Kumarage of Moratuwa University, a board member of RDA, has estimated potential usage of only 10,000 vehicles per day requiring a toll of at least Rs. 300 per trip to assure a 20% return on an investor's capital. At this rate users will reduce to less than 4,000, financial viability will fail and Government will have to subsidise. Furthermore users would have to join the traffic melee once they reach the Kelani River.
The Mattakkuliya Bridge route joins the Negombo Road just north of Ja Ela beyond which there is little congestion. It does not entail geological risk and provides improved access to Colombo for a whole residential area, but like the Katunayake Expressway delivers users only to the fringe, not the heart of Colombo.
The Railway solution will benefit a much larger population living near intermediate stations eg. Seeduwa, Ja Ela, Kandana and Peralanda. Its Rs. 1,700 cost includes double tracking, station improvements, some new trains (an air conditioned car in each) flat-bed wagons for containers, container cranes, and restoration of the direct railway link to the harbour at Orugodawatte.
When comparing these options it is worth identifying the problems (or rather symptoms of problems) which they are intended to solve. They are perceived to comprise mainly:-
1. Congestion between Ja Ela and the Kelani River Bridges
2. Difficulty in overtaking 40 ft. container carriers
3. Delay to departing and arriving airline passengers
Frequent train service with park-and-ride facility (bicycle, motor cycle and car) and feeder-bus integration at stations should convert a lot of passengers into travel by train. This should relieve traffic congestion on Negombo Road. Containers by train from the Katunayake Export Promotion Zone should remove most of the container "nuisance" complained of by motorists.
Most aircraft arrive and depart in the small hours of the night when there is no congestion or delay on the road. At other times how many departing and arriving air travellers, and their meeters and greeters are in a hurry? An expressway might save ten minutes on the way to the airport for a person who will be in the airport for one or two hours before boarding the plane, another 15 to 30 minutes in the plane before take-off and anything between one and twelve hours of airborne travel, not to speak of alighting, processing and land travel time at the other end of the journey. How important is saving 10 minutes on the way to the airport worth in that context? How many elite travellers are there for whom this 10 minutes is critical?
For arriving air passengers in the morning who have spent many hours in travel and airport processing, an expressway to the city could save 20 minutes of delay which would otherwise be an irritant to important travellers. Yet does this 20 minutes warrant investing Rs. 5 billion on an expressway?
This letter is not meant to assert which is the best solution but only to contest your assertion that "no one doubts the need" for the Katunayake Expressway, and add that even the Chairman of RDA, M.B.S. Fernando has publicly expressed his doubt.
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