• Trout for up-country rivers and streams
• Banking comes alive... but customers die slow deaths!
• Writers meet in Gardens

Trout for up-country rivers and streams

The Estate Forest & Water Resources Development Project of Kandy has drawn up plans to offer the up-country plantation companies an opportunity of re-introducing trout into the streams and rivers that serve their estates as well as the many mini-hydro schemes they utilize.

Speaking with the Team Leader of the project, I was told that a great deal of study has been undertaken and that the benefits to the plantation companies cannot be denied.

Not only could the trout be used as an added protein food for estate labour but there was market and sport fishing potential as well.

Trout was first introduced by the British in 1881, and by 1886 the Nuwara Eliya Lake could boast of 6-lb trout according to a report made by Le Mesurier who first brought the ova into the country.

The EFWRDP is prepared to assist all up-country plantation companies that wish to embark on trout rearing.

"The process is quite simple," the Team Leader said. "There will be need for tanks to hatch the ova, then rearing tanks for the fingerlings and finally the trout could be introduced into netted stretches of streams and rivers.

The companies could allow anglers the right to fish these river sections for a fee. Also, trout can be marketed, and obvious markets are the Middle East and Singapore."

The EFWRDP is prepared to assist in the bringing in of the eyed ova (the eggs through which the eyes of the hatchlings can be seen).

Trout eggs are hardy and can withstand transport and handling. Investment is minimal and the project is also prepared to give the necessary bank guarantees to cover investment risks.

According to the project, the optimum range for trout rearing is 12 to 17 degrees Centigrade up to a maximum of 15 degrees. The project will help in water quality assessment and give plantation companies the best advice on the preparation of tanks, raceways, the use of hatching baskets, etc.

"As it is, the land available for animal husbandry is dwindling day by day," said the Team Leader. "In turning to our waters, we ensure greater food security and what is more, have a most acceptable food source which is also an up market export commodity."

Banking comes alive... but customers die slow deaths!

"Banking comes alive.. ." say the advertisements, while all over Kandy, customers stand and stand and die slow deaths.

Asked around, and would like to share this bit of information with all those private banks who are making the lives of their clients and customers a misery. Several finance houses in Kandy have registered a rise in term deposits and the influx of money which would normally have been deposited in private banks. It seems that customers who wish to realise something on short term deposits are turning in increasing numbers to the non-bank finance institutions.

At least, they say, they are treated with respect, and are able to carry out their transactions in comfort. Funnily enough while these work-to-rule bank employees sit behind their counters, the customers stand in long lines. . .and they say that the customer is always right! Two banks that are not toeing the line with this particular trade union activity are also registering a massive influx of deposits and have also recorded a great many new deposit accounts.

These are the Seylan and Sampath Banks who are really cashing in!

This writer had to run the work-to-rule gauntlet at the Commercial Bank in Kandy recently. When a complaint was made several female members of the staff rose from their seats to inform me that I should go upstairs and complain to the management rather than registering my displeasure with them.

The point is that whatever beef the employees have is with their management, not with customers. But the customers are made the whipping boys.

Naturally, when I am in a better mood I will close my account and the accounts of my family and take my deposits elsewhere. But I refuse to be victimised by a bunch of fatheads who think that they have the status and privilege to make the public dance to their misbegotten tune!

Writers meet in Gardens

The English Writers' Workshop, an organisation that makes a most positive contribution to English writing in Sri Lanka, met on May 22 at the Peradeniya Gardens for a pleasant morning and an excellent lunch. The EWW, that was started in 1995, holds monthly meetings where the creative efforts of each of the members is discussed.

The Kandy meeting was a departure from the usual, but it proved to be a milestone in that it saw a gathering of some of the most promising young writers and many seniors too, with Sita Kulatunga and Haig Karunaratne as supervisors and quite taken up with the 'antics' of the younger members.

The sessions consisted of the liveliest discussions as each brought his or her story or poem to be considered by all the others, and the interaction was bright, breezy and quite cutting, although in the friendliest manner imaginable.

Others who serve as supervisors of the EWW are Anne Ranasinghe, Punyakante Wijenaike, Kamala Wijeratne, Pauline Hensman and Christine Wilson. Fahima Rizvan, whose collection of short stories, "Life" was shortlisted for the Gratiaen was among the group of over 20 who bussed it to the Gardens, where a flat tyre held them up long enough to compose a ditty on the wonders of modern travel.

Also in the group were Anthea Senaratna, Premini Amerasinghe, Neil Fernandopulle, M.T.L. Ebell, and many many others to whom I must apologise for not being able to recall their full names. The weather also entered into the spirit of things and a good time was had by all.

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