5th  October,  2003  Volume 10, Issue 12

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Middle and lower income groups on verge of despair

We are a group of citizens/pensioners from the middle and low income groups who unfortunately have all along voted for the UNP and at no stage of these long years have we asked or received any special concessions such as loans, houses, land etc. The government along with their ministers bureaucrats have brought us to the verge of despair.

Consider the following:-

1 The ridiculous tax debited on our deposits interest which has now been slightly increased.

2 The lowering of the interest rate by the Central Bank which benefits the corporate companies and multi-nationals to obtain loans but reduces the interest on our fixed deposits as most of us are not in receipt of pensions but have invested our hard earned money after years of work.

3 Commerce Minister’s scheme of 24 hour Sathosa outlets lit up like carnivals. Can the lower income groups and the poor patronise these shops at night? Where is the transport? Only Pajeros, Volvos and Benz owners could do so.

4 Parliamentarians getting Rs. 15 meals. One such meal would feed a poor family for a full day. Their double chins, bulging waistlines when seen on TV are an insult to those who voted them to power.

5 Next comes Thilanga Sumathipala with his lopsided tariff structure for phones. Higher tariff for poor income groups and concessions to the rich. Doesn’t he realise that the phone for the former is not a luxury but essential? At times calls are made only to the family doctor, hospital, undertaker, or family members in emergencies or for an ambulance – a sick friend, birthdays and anniversaries. Or when their utilities, like water or electricity need urgent repairs.

Most of them have ID facilities but are rarely used. Here again only to inform family members abroad of an illness, death, or urgent problems at home. They have no time for idle chatter and long gossipy calls to socialites. Invariably the higher income group users’ bills are paid for by their companies, government etc.

Is the government and the PM trying to eliminate from society and this world this particular class of lower income citizens who braved inclement weather, intimidation etc. to cast their vote?

Would the Prime Minister please give his immediate attention to these grievances or else neither the senior citizens nor their progeny will be alive to enjoy his long promised peace.

Group of Senior Citizens ,Colombo and Suburbs

Tiger duplicity

S.P. Tamilselvan, the Machiavellian political wing leader of the Tigers appeared on TV and echoed the GOSL spokesman G.L.P. that no camps have been set up by the Tigers after the MoU. He added sarcastically that the Sihala Urumaya and the JVP should take over the functions of the SLMM.

This same Tamilselvan in his letter dated February 13, 1995 wrote to K. Balapatabendi, secretary to the president during the Kumaratunga – LTTE peace talks of 1994/95 as follows:-

“Your accusation that the LTTE is constructing new camps and conducting a massive recruitment campaign in the Eastern Province in preparation for a major military offensive is totally unfounded. You will agree that political cadres should enjoy the liberty of carrying out political work among our people.”

On April 19, 1995 the political work and ceasefire ended abruptly without any prior notice. LTTE frogmen sank two naval gunboats inside Trincomalee harbour, murdering 12 naval personnel.

In the 39 days that followed, the Sri Lankan security forces and the police, caught unprepared, martyred 264 of its members and 125 were wounded with additional civilian deaths of 57 and nine wounded adding to the carnage. Two AVRO aircraft were also destroyed.

Eight years in time is too short a span to qualify as ‘history’ for the 19th century cliché about ‘repetition’ to be applicable, but collective Sinhala memory being only about a piteous two weeks, is it any wonder that the re-play of the charade with the same villainous liars calling the shots, has not alerted the government of the day nor the people to rise as one to save the nation.

P.K.D. Perera, Colombo 5

Where is the SU suicide squad?

Several months back the leadership of the Sihala Urumaya went on record as having pledged to establish a ‘suicide squad’ comprising patriotic citizens to counter the threats from the suicide squad of the LTTE. This has since passed by but nothing appears to have transpired nor has anything been heard about it.

Perhaps they are finding it difficult to recruit volunteers. If that is so, it will be the responsibility of the leadership of the SU to uphold this glorious pledge of theirs, by they themselves showing the way forward and enrolling as the founder volunteers. This would no doubt motivate other patriots to join them in this noble deed to lay down their lives for the sake of the country and the people.

Having made this pledge to the public, it would be a slur on the credibility of the leadership of the SU if they have decided to go back on it.

In such an eventuality, considering the degree of patriotism displayed by the leadership and members of the SU, it would be a complete let down by them in the face of the public.

R. Seneviratne, Dehiwala

Metal industries – boon or bane? 

The BOI and the government are very proud of the investors they have attracted to the country, but have we compared the advantages of some of these investments with the disadvantages? Recently a large number of Indian metal industries have been started in our country in different industrial zones like Horana, Mirigama, Avissawella etc. These industries have brought in little investment and employment but a whole host of environmental problems.

The Indian government, realising the danger of these industries has become very strict in the enforcement of environmental laws and courts have closed a number of polluting industries in India. It appears that these industries are shifting to Sri Lanka knowing that we are willing to accept any industry whatever the pollution it brings. Sri Lanka had hardly any metal industries and we felt that our environment (air and drinking water) was free of metal contamination. Why are we risking this?

The government seems to be turning a blind eye on environmental pollution. Mirigama industrial zone is located in a residential area and polluting industries should not have been approved there. The Avissawella industrial zone, because of its location upstream to the NWSDB intake point of Colombo water supply was also supposed to have only low polluting industries. Then why are these metal industries being located in these areas?

Who is monitoring these industries and ensuring that they are not polluting? Are we waiting for the Colombo city water supply to be irreversibly polluted with toxic metals before we take action? Just for a little investment are we willing to risk the Kelani river, a major source of drinking water, becoming contaminated?

Sarath Perera, Colombo 4

It is the country that matters, not portfolios

According to a newspaper report, TULF MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (GP) has said he was the happiest man because the PA/JVP talks about an alliance between the two parties went bust. There is no gainsaying the fact that he has every reason to be jubilant.

Not only GP, but every pro-Eelam politician and bankrupt Marxist in the pay of NGOs most vociferously promoting the cause of Eelam and the consequent division of the country, will say alleluias a hundred times and more to celebrate the occasion. As a matter of fact, it was the bankrupt Marxists, who had no social or political base to reckon with, first encouraged Eelam by poisoning the minds of the Tamils with such cheap political slogans as, “one language, two countries – two languages, one country” etc., whereas even in India, the “traditional homeland of the Tamils,” the official language is Hindi. Article 343 of the Constitution of India states – “The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in the Devanagari script.” So much for the language jargon.

Talks on alliance talks have, according to reports, fallen apart on trivial matters such as the question of portfolios. This is a very lame excuse on the part of the SLFP, because it had, when it wooed the SLMC, no problem with the portfolios. They got all what they demanded. The country is in peril. Eelamists, helped by our own slogan-mouthing traitors, backed by racist Tamil parties and advised by briefless barristers, are well on the way to writing the deeds for two third of the country which ironically they do not own, whereas a section of the rightful owners are openly quarrelling how not to save what is legitimately ours.

If the SLFP wants an alliance with the JVP whose declared policies on the country’s unity, sovereignty and integrity are clear as crystal, it is nothing but right that they be given their due share in the matter of portfolios etc. For the SLFP, the unity, integrity and the sovereignty of the country should be more important than portfolios that are not worth a tuppence, comparatively speaking. Without a country there will be no politics, nor portfolios, no nothing for that matter.

Col. Blimp, Panadura

Hooliganism begins at school

A recent experience my husband and I had, prompted me to write this in order to keep the public informed. It was during the fourth week of July, as we were driving down Baseline Road towards Kirulapone that the incident took place.

Two buses full of kids, boys around 11 years of age were on the parallel lane. Their pastime was to throw stones on the vehicles on the next lane. Well, a few did hit our vehicle as well. A windscreen does not come cheap these days. We managed to overtake the bus and get close to the driver’s end and during a brief stop at a traffic light, got the details of the school.

The school was Kalutara MV. Armed with this information, I called on the principal of the school a few days later. The person at the other end stated that the principal was busy and he was in charge of administration and wanted to know the reason for my call, upon which I stated the incident. He did admit that kids from all classes were going on trips those days. He wanted to know the exact number of the bus in order to take action and before I could make any other comment, he slammed the phone on me.

Well, the purpose of my call was not with the intention of making a police entry but to make a simple disciplinary comment to the kids and make them aware of the implications of such behaviour.

If this is the state of the schools and the behaviour of the kids who come out of them, it explains a great deal about the state of our universities and the youth who come out of them.

Over to you Mr. Principal!

Mrs. Adhikari, Nugegoda

Sorting out the ethnic issue

Although we Sri Lankans (Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and other races) take pride in saying that we are the descendants of great kings who ruled this country, the fact remains that we are also the descendants of a subject race for more than two or three centuries that took orders from foreign masters like the Dutch, Portuguese and finally the British prior to our gaining this so-called independence. My candid opinion, although several may disagree with me is that we never fought and won independence. Independence was thrust on us.

The Britishers, having lost their hold on India, our great neighbour in 1947, showed little reluctance to grant independence to Sri Lanka the following year, 1948, the island being a dot in the Indian ocean.

To trace the history of this country since 1948 to date will be a waste of space and also my time. It would be like searching the barber saloon backyard for anything useful.

Pacts were signed several times to be abrogated before the ink dried up “God only could save the Tamils” were the final words uttered by one Velupillai’s son, S.J.V. Chelvanayakam who tried his utmost holding the “dove” in his hand.

Refusing to put everything on God, another Velupillai’s youthful son, Pirapaharan releasing the ‘dove’ took the ‘gun’ instead in his hand.

The issue has now been internationalised. While some friendly countries are trying to sort it out with good intentions yet some others are looking at it with an eagle eye from the top of the mountain.

That’s how I could sum up. Let your readers be jurors and give their verdict.

P.C.P. Gnanadurai, Uduvil