18th July, 2004 Volume 11, Issue 1 |
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Letters |
Exhibition of severed heads
To
comeback to the highpoint - amongst this unfortunate lot was my brother in
law and family then residing in Kamburupitiya and engaged in a lucrative
cinnamon export business. Kamburupitiya in the Matara District was one of
the hot spots, but he was tied up there due to monetary obligations and the
moment all this was finalised he was to flee to Colombo. But this was not to
be. One
afternoon a gang of about 10 JVP thugs and murderers stormed his house
demanding the keys to the almirah to remove jewellery. This accomplished, my
brother-in-law, his wife (my sister - four months pregnant) and their only
daughter of five years were lined up and their stomachs ripped open. Then
all three were beheaded and the severed heads lined up on the parapet wall
in front of their house bordering the road. There
were also 10 other decent houses in the neighbourhood and all their
occupants went through this agony with the grand finale being the exhibition
of these several heads, around 40, in front of their houses. O.J. Is
there a need for a new constitution? Sri
Lanka is yet again saddled with a hung parliament with the usual attacks on
the constitution and the proportional representation system which it
provides for. Many politicians believe that the 1978 Constitution prevents
the formation of a stable government thus causing a constitutional crisis.
These segments also believe that the present constitution is inappropriate
and needs to be replaced. Since
independence, however, politicians in this country have always found fault
with the constitution in force. Consequently the 1948 Constitution was
replaced by a completely new constitution in 1972 which again was replaced
by an entirely new constitution in 1978. The 1978 constitution is now
considered the greatest hindrance to good governance. Is the constitution
really the cause for all the ills of the country? Alternatively, is it
possible to create an ideal constitution that could solve all the problems
besetting this country? Ironically every time the constitution was changed
it became less acceptable. The 1948 constitution, by an large is considered
to be superior to the subsequent ones. A
constitution of whatever make is not a panacea for the socio-economic,
political and juridical issues of a country. It is no alternative for good
governance. It is only a body of fundamental principles according to which a
state is governed. It is perhaps a tool of government which should be used
wisely to achieve set goals and objectives. A
constitution once established is rarely replaced but improved through
appropriate amendments as and when the need arises. For instance, the
British Consitution which is unitary in character and flexible in nature has
never been replaced, although it may have had occasion to improve on it
through appropriate amendments. The American Constitution on the other hand
which is federal in character and rigid in nature has also never been
replaced. The rigidity of the American Constitution has not permitted many
amendments either. Despite
the contrasting nature and characteristics, the British and American
Constitutions not only uphold democratic principles with different voting
mechanisms but have also survived for ages without any danger of
replacement. It
should be the endeavour of politicians to make the constitution work by
sensible action and well thought out improvements in terms of the stipulated
procedure for amending the constitution. The well intended safeguards
enshrined in the constitution against hasty legislation should be honoured
and wider consensus of all parties concerned should be obtained for any
change of the constitution. This is important because democracy by
definition entails a state of society characterised by recognition of
equality of rights; political, social or legal. It
is also pertinent to state that the presently hung parliament is not
necessarily the result of the proportional representation system. In fact a
close examination of the policies of the two principal political parties
will reveal that there is hardly anything to choose between them on the
basis of policy. The obvious result was that none of the parties were able
to get a clear mandate. Further, the ruling party at the time of the
election had a distinct disadvantage as their two year performance
particularly in the rural sector was subject to intense scrutiny by the
voters. The
track record of the other political party, which had been in office no more
than two years ago was also fresh in the minds of the voters. However, their
ambitious list of promises irrespective of their feasibility did give them a
slight advantage but was not adequate to give them an absolute majority in
parliament. The claim that the present government has received an
overwhelming mandate from the people is not statistically tenable as it had
received only 45.6 percent or less than one half of the total votes cast. No
doubt it has won many more seats in terms of electorates. But this is a
distortion of the ultimate will of the majority of voters because the more
than two-thirds majority in terms of electoral seats reflects a magnified
mandate of a mere 45% of the total poll. It is precisely due to such utter
distortions of the aspirations of the voters that the proportion system was
resorted to. The present composition of elected members in parliament is,
therefore, a reasonably accurate representation of the public will. This has
been possible only because of the proportional representation system
provided for in the constitution. In
conclusion it may be said that constitution making should not be resorted to
as a pastime to achieve limited objectives. It should be considered if at
all as a national endeavour above petty party politics with a view to
enshrining the will and aspirations of all sections of the Sri Lankan
community. Prof.
Ashley L.S. Perera Breakthrough
in dialysis procedure Following
research, city based Kidney Care Trust has introduced an innovative
procedure of 'citrate dialysis' which is said to be the first of its kind in
the country. Kidney
Care Trust in a joint effort with the Department of Nephrology at St. Thomas
Hospital started researching on the composition of dialysis. Both Dr. Natrai
in charge of the dialysis centre and Dr. Jagannathan, medical officer in
charge of clinical nephrology did the work under the close supervision of
the chief nephrologist Dr. P. Ravichandran. The
citrate dialysis procedure was first carried out on a seriously bleeding
patient who was operated on by a urologist for badly infected kidneys
needing their removal. In
this patient, the conventional heparin dialysis was difficult as it would
result in bleeding from the operated areas. Further, his fluid overloaded
status prevented the doctors from doing even saline dialysis. Hence citrate
dialysis procedure was started on the patient which proved successful. Further,
the citrate dialysis procedure was used in 26 patients over 105 times and
the results were comparable to the West. The salt was also sent for trial at
Ahmedabad, Madurai, Nepal and Tiruneveli for intensive study before the
formula is sent for patent registration. The
citrate dialysis fluid which is costly to import and use can now be
manufactured in the country itself for the benefit of the kidney failure
patient and very soon it can replace the conventional acetate fluid that is
less safe and more costly than the citrate dialysate. Besides
the other benefit in this form of dialysis is that it can reduce cost of
dialysis by Rs. 200 and also improve its quality. The
trust has plans to start training all the technicians on how to perform this
form of dialysis and try to transfer its benefit to all kidney failure
patients who live on dialysis. Significantly,
Kidney Care Trust, an NGO established in 1997 is actively involved in the
establishment of kidney care centres including imparting dialysis training
for technicians, nurses. About
'citrate dialysis' procedure, it was earlier introduced in US by using
citrate dialysate instead of acetate dialysate. This
combination was also given US FDA approval and the company represented by
the doctor who discovered this later patented the formula. Soon
after introduction of this procedure, there was tremendous change in
dialysis therapy and the doctors widely used it not only in those patients
where heparin could not be used but also in patients who had undergone
cardiac by-pass and liver transplantation surgery. S.
Prakash SPC:
Can the professor deny allegations? This
letter is in response to the reply given by Prof. K.U. Kamalgoda, managing
director, State Pharmaceuticals Corporation in your esteemed paper of June
20. The
'holier than thou' attitude adopted in his reply to Medical Practitioner
wherein he claims that the purchase procedure as adopted by SPC is free of
corruption and very transparent is certainly not true. Every possible ruse
is adopted to make purchases outside the tender procedure from local branded
names. Let the professor deny that at present there is an inquiry being held
by the Bribery Commission against him for having awarded a tender for one
million U.S. dollars to a company (let us say LM) privately without going
through the tender procedure. Let
him deny that for any tender that is above Rs. 10 million, it has to be
approved by the cabinet tender board. The good professor has already paid
three visits to the Bribery Commissioner's office for the inquiry that is
still on. Let
the good professor deny that he is now 75 years old and that him, continuing
as the managing director of SPC, contravenes the Companies Act No: 17
Section 181 (1) of 1982 which specifically states that no one above 70 years
can be appointed, especially as this is a public sector organisation. Let
me now come to his boast about his travels abroad. The good professor
certainly does not need to travel abroad to look after his interests. He is
so clever that he has organised what he or SPC calls a "Suppliers
Convention." This is entirely his idea and he brings down all the
suppliers to the SPC and meets them. First officially, and then,
unofficially. He also very cleverly projects his image as the most powerful
person at the SPC. At
the last Suppliers Convention he made it a point to tell all those present
that even though there is a change in the government and the minister and
the chairman and board of directors, he still remains in his position and
that this is the sixth convention he is addressing. It is very subtly put
across so that all the big names that come for the convention know that he
is the big man and no one else. What
is the purpose of this so-called convention? Any convention is organised by
a business organisation to improve its sales and products. In the SPC the
case is the opposite as it is a meeting of all the suppliers - not the
buyers! All present accept the fact that here is the big man and it is he
who decides finally on the tenders. In fact, if the convention is cancelled,
the suppliers will know that SPC is undergoing a clean up. If
the price of drugs has to come down, first the MD has to go and then it must
be made compulsory that no drugs should be purchased outside the tender
procedure, and if any tender is awarded other than to the lowest tendered,
whose product is correctly registered with the CDDA, then the lowest quoted
company must be advised as to the reasons why the particular tender was not
awarded to them. Any
tender document shows most items will be required in at least six months
time, which gives the SPC sufficient time to inform the lowest tenderer as
to why his quote was rejected. If such a procedure is adopted then there
will be no reason for any single person or persons to benefit personally
since no company needs to give 'santhosam' to see that the tender is awarded
to them. Also, this process will certainly give credit to the entire tender
process since the main purpose of calling for tenders is to award a tender
to the lowest quote which is registered with the CDDA. The
SPC/DHS purchases amount to almost Rs. 4 billion annually and the only way
to keep the place clean is to follow tender procedure to the very letter. It
will also be interesting to see whether Prof. Kamalgoda can deny my comments
about his age, that the Suppliers Convention was his brainchild and that he
is under investigation by the Bribery Commission. Daya
K. Ratnayake Breakdown
in saline supply An
Indonesian manufacturer who won a State Pharmaceutical Corporation tender
for the supply of 2.3 million bottles of sodium chloride 0.9%, commonly
called saline has abruptly stopped delivery asking for a price hike and
causing panic buying at the SPC. With
the current dengue epidemic, this product is life saving and is mandatory
treatment in all hospitals. According
to the government tender procedure, suppliers are bound by a performance
bond prior to placing the orders, against the failure of delivery, any
change in price, withdrawal from committed acceptance of order and quality
failure etc, whereas in default of any, the supplier forfeits the
performance bond. Now
it is understood, the SPC is soft peddling the issue and has referred the
requested price hike to the ministry, when they should have acted fast and
forfeited the performance bond and recalled a fresh tender. Panic buying not
only makes the suppliers make a quick buck offering a high price but also
leaves the fraudulent administrators to make money on both sides, by not
penalising the defaulter but negotiating for a higher price. One
Who Knows Consumers
groan as living costs soar The
cost of living is sky rocketing to astronomical heights. In the past few
weeks since the present government took over, making extravagant promises,
the price of beef has gone up twice, fish prices are prohibitive, chicken
and egg prices have risen appreciably, vegetable prices have doubled, the
price of rice is rising steadily and has gone well over the limit stipulated
by the minister for imports to be made. (Incidentally, why is he not
sticking to his promise? Have the big dealers "met" him to tender
a plea not to rescue the consumer?) Now
the price of flour is to be raised substantially. It's becoming well nigh
impossible to keep a nostril above water. Where
are the Somawansas and Weerawansas who howled about the high cost of living
when they were in the opposition. They organised processions and held
meetings. There isn't a hum from them now. Why? God
save Sri Lanka! A.A.B Clarification With
reference to your article titled 'Haunting memories of JVP' in your issue of
March 21, I wish state that my brother's first name has been misspelt as
Malen Alles. In actual fact this name should read as Marcellus Alles. I
would appreciate if you would be so kind as to publish this clarification. Winston
A.U. Alles
Vipula
Wadugodapitiya, son of the late Mr and Mrs. P.B. Wadugodapitiya of Kandy,
dearly beloved husband of Surangani, father of Indrika, Lakshika, and
Udumbara, father-in-law of Sampath passed away in his sleep peacefully in
the early hours of May 14, at his eldest daughter's residence at Ratmalana. He
was cremated at the general cemetery, Mahaiyawa, Kandy in the presence of a
large gathering of relations and friends on May 20. Vipula,
although he came from an aristocratic family was extremely humble and
kind-hearted with a friendly smile and ever ready to help his friends or
relations. He
was employed at the Kandy Police Kennels of the Central Province as officer
in charge. He was very efficient and duty conscious and did his job to the
entire satisfaction of his superiors. After
retirement he carried on a very lucrative private practice and it was on one
of those visits to Colombo that he passed away. He was very popular among
his relations and friends and police officers and was much in demand for
help by his relations and friends. Among
the mourners, besides his family were his brothers and sisters - Mervin,
Lakshman, Ranjith, Mahasen, Robin, Kumara, Mallika, Iranganie, Kanthi,
Laksmi, Nalini, and Vaijayanthi, and in-laws Nimal (Kuwait), Nihal (Canada),
Samantha, Hemantha, Percy, Marlie, Manel, Denzil, Suranjan, Florence,
Atapattu, Wijekoon, Dudley, Malkanthi and Amara (Canada). Vipula's
great, great grandfather the late Adigar Wadugodapitiya was a great
philanthropist and the honorary title of Adigar was conferred on him by the
king and a street is named after him in Kandy - Wadugodapitiya Street. He
donated land to build the leading Buddhist institution of the Central
Province - the Dharmaraja College and he got down from Colombo Sir Baron
Jayatilaka to start the school of which he was a founder member. A
Sangika dana was offered to bhikkhus at his residence in Kandy on May 24. May
he attain the bliss of Nibbana. V.K.B.
Ramanayake
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