14th February 1999

How many more have to be sacrificed?

I wonder how many of you read the article in the newspapers about a six year old little girl was raped by a senior student in a village school.

It also said that this little girl was unable to explain the events due to shock.

How can a girl of six years explain in words an incident of sexual abuse, while in shock or otherwise, when she does not even have the faintest idea as to where babies come from? Then there is the incident last week of an 18 year old garment factory girl being raped by five men and then strangled to death and left in the bushes to die. This is the state of the country with rape cases galore, daylight robberies and families being axed to death. I wonder what the new millennium holds for Sri Lanka?

How many more women have to be sacrificed in this way?

So many Women's Rights Organisations have come forward with suggestions. If capital punishment is ever introduced, this country will experience less suicides and murders. And what's more, a girl will be able to walk home with the realization that she will reach it ... alive.

Ms P.J. Dole
Colombo 06

Cancer Hospital callousness

Is there no administration in the Maharagama Cancer Hospital? One complaint of practically every patient is regarding the method of keeping the patients' file on the doctor's table. The file is dumped on the table and the others follow suit, one on top of the other. It always happens that it is the last come who is first served.

A patient coming at the crack of dawn from a far away place will be treated last of all, because his file will be thrown first on to the doctor's table and the patient who comes from Maharagama very late will be treated first, as it is his file that would be on top.

If it is not possible to give numbers to the patients in order of arrival, the attendants handling the files should be instructed how to place them before the doctor - the first come to be first served. Is this too much to ask? Let it be remembered that it is the tax-payer who foots all the bills and it is the citizens who should be given the proper and considerate treatment, wherever it be. The money for administering the Cancer Hospital is not plucked from the trees in its garden.

Disgusted Citizen
Colombo 5

They are definitely a menace

Wednesday, February 3, late afternoon. A van carrying a family comprising the grandmother, the mother and three young daughters is heading towards the Katunayake airport. The grandmother is taking a flight to Oman. A container lorry knocks against the van while overtaking it. The youngest girl aged nine sustains severe head injuries and dies within a few hours of being admitted to the accident ward of the National Hospital though doctors battle to save her life. Even if she did survive this fatal accident she would have been a mere vegetable for the rest of her life following severe brain damage.

Any traveller on the Negombo Road would agree that container lorries are nothing but a menace. Not only do they create traffic blocks as they travel without restriction at any time of the day, but they pose a potential danger when motorists attempt to overtake them. Now that container movement has become a way of life in this country, surely they should not be permitted on the roads during the day, especially at peak hours. When vehicular traffic has grown at such an alarming speed, far exceeding the limitations of our main roads, container lorries plying on the roads at any given time of the day has become the biggest curse of those entering and leaving Colombo. The government should seriously think of allowing these mammoth vehicles to take to the roads only within certain times of the day and night.

The child who died on Wednesday the 3rd died in vain, for no fault of hers. I wonder how many more innocent people must pay with their lives before the government awakes from its slumber and takes serious action to prevent such incidents in the future. Over to you Mr. Fowzie!

Geetha. W. Bibile
Kandana

Insurance for elephants?

Owners of domesticated elephants in Sri Lanka face serious difficulties in meeting the expenses of illnesses, accidents and old age in these animals. A proper insurance cover could be the answer to this problem.

The only available insurance is an Animal Husbandry (cattle) cover, which extends its facility to elephants. This too is limited to a maximum of Rs. 300,000/=, which is inadequate, as the current value of an elephant could well be above Rs. 1,000,000/=.

I give here a few examples of some very sad and unfortunate incidents, which have led to the deaths of these majestic animals during the past few years. Most of the owners are unaware of the difficulties in purchasing replacements, due to the prevailing high prices.

Some of these elephant owners solely depend on the income from work performed by the elephants to support their own families.

In the Avissawella district, when lightning struck a cocount tree, it broke in two and finally landed on the power line, which came in contact with the chain of the young bull elephant. The poor elephant was electrocuted within seconds.

It is alarming to note that accidental deaths during working hours in "logging camps" (or timber coops), are on the high side in Sri Lanka. In the case of "logging camps", I personally believe, the mahouts have to be very careful when they engage the elephants in work, as uneven terrain of the land, the drag-path of the logs and many other means of risk have to be looked into. There are also some deaths recorded by stab injuries to elephants, where we have traced the culprits as cruel elephant keepers. I have known of instances where elephants have been poisoned and also killed by being pricked by poisoned thorns.

In addition to all these catastrophes, the latest reports show, that fatal accidents are due to transportation of elephants on flat trucks, by inexperienced personnel. There are two recorded incidents that took place last year. One is the case of the Kotte Temple Tusker, falling off a flat truck whilst being unloaded and breaking its spinal cord resulting in death.

The response from insurance companies to formulate an appropriate insurance policy for elephants has been poor. With an elephant population of over three hundred in captivity, surely the elephant owners would all welcome a good scheme and be willing to subscribe to it.

Palitha Udurawana
Kandy

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