Most citizens of this country are engrossed in their day to day activity. They therefore do not have the time to look for reasons as to why things are going wrong in their motherland. If one does not look one will not see. The information I have gathered when correctly arranged like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle reveals an interesting picture which I intend to place before the public for critical analysis.
On or about 1942 the Japanese did some aerial reconnaissance of Sri Lanka for their bombing raids. The Trincomalee area was extensively photographed from the air. The estuary of the Mahaweli river was very brackish in all their photographs and the Japanese were quite intrigued and made special note of this. After the Japanese lost the second world war these records fell into the hands of a certain western power. In the early 1950's this power did some extensive investigations in this regard and it was announced that this area was rich in mineral deposits. Titanium , is twice as strong as steel and twice as light as aluminium. It is used extensively in the manufacture of fighter aircraft, space modules, inter continental ballistic missiles etc. due to its heat resistant qualities. Thorium has now been named as a reusable nuclear fuel.
If some one owns a beautiful bungalow in a large estate and another is interested in purchasing only the bungalow and not the estate in its totality the person so interested if he is cunning would create managerial problems in the estate through labour unrest, robberies etc. The disillusioned owner will ultimately decide to put the estate on sale. The interested person would then discourage buyers from purchasing the estate in its totality. The owner will thus be compelled to block out the estate with the bungalow in one such block. The interested person would at this stage come forward to purchase the bungalow at a low price. Similarly this country was also destabilised over the years by this western power. A package that would suit the needs of this western power has now been formulated. They have now won the approval of the government to commence mining operations in this country at Eppawala and to construct a sophisticated factory in Trincomalee. The mineral deposits that this western power was eyeing from the early 1950's is now close at hand.
It is a well known fact that the same western power was responsible for replacing the former president of Indonesia with the present president. As a reward for this assistance they were given mining rights to mine Copper in Indonesia. As a result they moved into Indonesia in a big way and the Indonesian economy was revived with their investments in that country. However the largest Mining Company of this western power that invested in that country and obtained mining rights to mine Copper is today mining Gold in the mountains of Iran Jaya. The ethnic people in this mountainous area consider these hills which are covered with dense rain forest sacred to them. They believe that when they die their spirits go to rest in these rain forest. They therefore began to protest against these people from the west mining Gold in the mountain forests. Many of these protesters have gone missing to date and the human rights organisations point their finger at this western Mining Company for these disappearances.
Though the Phosphate deposits are at Eppawala in the Anuradhapura district ironically their sophisticated factory will however be located in Trincomalee.
A press conference was held a few days back to explain this Phosphate saga to the media. It was mentioned at this press conference that mining of phosphates will be initially conducted in fifty six square miles of land while six miles distance from the border of this mining area will be reserved as a security zone which too could be utilised for future mining if necessary. It was also mentioned that phosphate deposits that could be utilised for the next one thousand two hundred years by our future generations at the present rate of mining would be depleted in around twelve years. The country would from then on have to import phosphates to meet its requirements. The population in over eight villages and in most of the Mahaweli H system which would amount to around twelve thousand families or forty thousand people will have to be shifted out in the initial stage and if the security zone too is used for mining purposes over five hundred thousand people may have to be shifted. The heart of the Nuwarakalaviya granary will be reduced to a massive crater three to four hundred feet deep. The Jaya Ganga the pride of our tank civilisation will flow no more to irrigate Tissawewa, Natchiyaduwa, Nuwarawewa, Rajangana and numerous other minor irrigation tanks.
The nerve centre of a two thousand five hundred year old tank irrigation system built by our forefathers with their sweat, blood, tears and toil for posterity will cease to exist.
We must learn from mistakes made by other countries and prevent this country from suffering the same consequences as a result of power hungry political ambitions.
The decision of the government to buy ship engines for our trains is timely and must be commended even though the normal tender procedures have to be violated. Displeasing a few friendly countries in the process is a small price to pay. How this historic and momentous decision was taken just before our trains started falling into rivers is beyond our comprehension! This type of foresight and forward planning augurs well for the future of the country.
As a humble daily bus traveller I would like to propose another similar innovation which undoubtedly should revolutionize our road transport system, and relieve us of much misery during travelling. Our buses should be fitted with aircraft engines. Then we will have the fastest road transport system in the world and traffic congestion would be a thing of the past. Dear readers if you think I am crazy then what do you think of those who want to get down ship engines for trains.
Enough is Enough. Enough had been said in all media both for and against ragging for so long a time. What is now urgently needed is action... Mere words are of no avail. In a matter of a few months two boys in the prime of their beautiful youth paid with their precious lives due to the brutality of some insane maniacs. Several had been maimed for life. Some seriously wounded and hospitalised. This shameful crime seems to have no end.
It is indeed a shame and shows the utter inefficiency of a Government that cannot step down hard and ban ragging of any sort in any University, institute, school etc. What human rights are people talking of? Is ragging a licence to kill?
The Minister of Education and Higher Education must come out strong and immediately ban ragging in any Educational Organisation making use of all the powers vested in him.
Human rights question will not arise! One may argue that innocent ragging is permissible. But it must be understood that our people see no limit and as time goes by, they tend to go out of control. Ragging should stop. It should never be allowed. Instead of ragging there are other ways of welcoming freshers more decently. Host a tea-party. Have a sing-song but never liquor. Ban liquor in Universities and all other Institutes. It must also be clearly understood that it is people with certain complexes who try to satisfy their low-egos that rag.
It is now becoming a fashion for serious ragging at weddings too. This too must be stopped. There had been instances when brides as well as grooms had been subjected to torture and seriously wounded due to these inhuman acts of some maniacs. All responsible adults must make every effort and pool all the resources at their command to halt these inhuman forms of ragging at Weddings.
We strongly urge the authorities to immediately ban ragging of any sort in all Educational institutes without waiting for another blossoming flower to be snatched away prematurely. What pleasure can these so called mentally retarded people obtain from subjecting their own cardres to utterly inhuman torture and killing?
It must also not be forgotten that Parents too have an important role to play here. No child of any respectable parent should get himself involved in ragging. Parents must get activated to advise their offsprings from resorting to inhuman acts and from gaining any pleasure out of pain to others.
I am past my 90th birthday - I have children, grand-children and great-grand children. So it was with joy that I watched a group of about 20 boys walking up St. Joseph's Road, Nugegoda, just as I was getting out of my garden gate. Boys in immaculate white longs and shirts, possibly returning after sitting the G.C.E. Ord. Level paper - how inspiring to see them - so I mused on that Friday, the 19th of December 1997 at 12.30 p.m.
For no reason I could think of, the boys crowded round me, too close for my comfort. Then one said something to another, they made way for me and, with my feeble eyes I continued down the broken, rutted road ( a disgrace to the Dehiwela-Mt. Lavinia Municipality). I noticed two of the boys turning back and going ahead of me in the direction I was going. There they were at a bend, in earnest conversation just yards from the house I had been occupying for the past 55 years. As I came abreast of them, they turned suddenly, grabbed me and flung me on the ground. While I vainly struggled, they rifled my pockets, took my money (a matter of Rs. 510), my heart pills and some personal papers. Leaving me on the ground they ran back to join their friends.
I sustained minor injuries, a twisted knee, a sore wrist, a pulled thigh muscle that makes me limp - but I thank God that no bones were broken. And I am sorry, not for myself - I am sorry for those boys. I am sorry for the parents who would have brought them up with high hopes. I am sorry for our beloved country. We are on the eve of celebrating Fifty years of Independence. Should we celebrate or should we mourn in sackcloth and ashes? Is this what Independence has spawned? This generation of vipers - to add to the on-going Civil War, the breakdown of Law and Order, the appallingly low standard of the Public Service and of the so-called Education, the neglected Health and Sanitary by-laws (witness the recent Cholera outbreak) - The list is endless.
More letters to the editor * The Package brainwash * No cases of Mad cow here * Read it with an open mind before judging!
Write a letter to the editor : editor@suntimes.is.lk