A weekend English newspaper has reported that attempts are being made to revamp the President-backed bankrupt Mihin Lanka Airline which has already swallowed up over Rs.3.5 billion of the tax payers' money.

Surely the President and his coterie of advisors must be out of their minds to try to put Mihin Lanka back into the skies spending more of the taxpayers money.

The report said the Treasury is to dole out the money for the dry lease of two second-hand aircraft to put Mihin Lanka back into business.

It is well known that this government has squandered depositors' monies in the state banks to run the airline, which only served to boost the egos of the President and his men.

It is also known that the directors of the airline are paid a monthly salary of more than Rs.400,000 each for them to live in luxury when the common man has been starving because of the many price increases imposed by the government on the pretext of rising world prices. However it is now clear the real cause of all the problems has been the corruption that is taking place at all levels in government and Mihin is a prime example.

Even the monies in the Employees' Provident Fund have not been spared by the government in its efforts to boost the egos of the President and his cohorts.

This set of rogues is the greatest curse that has befallen this country. It is said that God when he wants to destroy a man, first drives him mad.

The President's men must surely be wanting to spend further monies on the airline for them to make more money. The President by turning a blind eye is letting the country run to ruin.

Why are the opposition and religious leaders, especially the Mahanayakes keeping quiet without telling the President that enough is enough?

Disgusted Citizen 

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Why appeal against the death penalty? 

An English national daily of May 16 carried an article which said that a Sri Lankan national had been given the death penalty by the Kuwaiti government for possessing drugs worth more than Rs.10 million. It went on to say that the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment would appeal against the death penalty.

Why, oh why, would they want to do that? Shouldn't they ask for it to be implemented, with torture in advance for such a grave crime? Imagine the number of families, youth and lives this amount of drugs would have destroyed if delivered?

Imagine how long this culprit could have been doing this and how much of damage he would have done specially to the youth who are the commonest victims of drug addiction. How much of heartache would have been caused to the parents, to the wives and to the children of these victims?

Drugs are worse than murder for murder kills a person swiftly and that's the end of the story. But drugs kill the person slowly, painfully, and shamefully and he lives a life neither dead nor alive, and those around him suffer with him even more.

Being a counsellor I know the pain and the tears felt by the family while trying to rehabilitate and cope up with a drug addict, especially a youngster who also wants to get out of it, but even with maximum effort often fails.

Anyone who is associated with drug trafficking or promoting it amongst the public must be publicly given the maximum punishment - irrevocable death penalty.

If the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau tries to save this criminal from the death penalty, they will be sending a message to all drug traffickers that they can get away with it just because they are Sri Lankan. This also gives a bad impression of Sri Lanka.

Therefore the Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Bureau should make sure that this man is given the death penalty with no interference whatsoever irrespective of whether he's a Muslim, Sinhalese or Tamil.

Not only that, let's hope that Sri Lanka would follow suit as well and bring in the death penalty for this crime if not for any other.

Let this be a lesson to anyone who has any association with drug peddling.

Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai

Dehiwela

The rising cost of living 

Cost of living everyday is rising to a dizzy height,

Forcing everyone to be in a sad plight;

High prices of goods and services are on the rise,

Latest addition to it is our own local rice.

Every food item has gone up in price,

Which is a burden to the suffering masses;

Every one struggles hard every day,

To enjoy a square meal a day.

Tastily cooked protein rich meat and fish,

Is absent in many people's daily dish;

From humble worker to staff officer are groaning,

Because living costs daily are soaring.

Imagine the price of fuel and firewood,

Milk powder, and infant milk food;

Think of rice, bread, coconut, vegetables and eggs,

Reduce all these food items, the housewives beg.

When water, electricity bills and transport fares rise,

People are affected but do not have any voice;

The party in the opposition says there is a remedy,

But in this government, we will face a bigger malady.

The poor and the salaried classes are affected most,

To reduce living costs was this government's boast;

Everyday, it has become a battle for survival,

There is insufficient money for one's wherewithal.

Working people always urge a salary increase,

As purchasing power of money is on the decrease;

Everyone's hope and relief is a big wage hike,

If not, they would warn, they will resort to a strike.

M. Azhar Dawood

The traffic police impose 'spot fines' for road traffic offences. Although these are called spot fines, the fine is not paid on the spot.

The motorist has to surrender his licence to the traffic policeman on duty who issues a receipt. This receipt has to be taken to the area police station during working hours and a 'fine sheet' has to be obtained which has to be taken to a post office to pay the fine.

After payment one has to return to the police station and submit the payment receipt to obtain the licence. This process takes several hours and an employed person usually has to obtain leave from work to go through this process.

If the offence was committed in an area far away from the usual residence of the motorist, even if it is 100 kms. away, the licence holder or his/her representativehas to visit the area police station to complete this process which may even take a whole day or even more.

This cumbersome procedure is often exploited by corrupt traffic police officers. Knowing very well the harassment motorists have to undergo in this process, theyoften bookmotorists for minor and trivial traffic infringements.Many motorists often unwillingly bribe the police officer to avoid the cumbersome fine payment procedure.

The government should therefore implement without delaya procedure where a motorist can make cash payment for the fine on the spot and obtain a receipt for it. This is the only way that bribery and corruption in the traffic police can be stopped and the harassment caused to motorists lessened.

K.G.E

Nugegoda

Sri Lankan diplomacy in the United Kingdom has met with unprecedented success over the lastyear or so. This is chiefly the result of thehard work done by theSri Lankan diplomatic team.

Unlikethose before them, these officers havenotgiven way to theloudest or the most aggressive voice or used extremism to fight extremism, as taught by the greatteacher that "hatred shall not cease with hatred."

In this aspect the present Ambassadorhas found a formula to engage with thesilent majority of the moderate Sri Lankans living in the United Kingdom be they Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims.

She has opened the door to the moderates and extremists alike, giving everybody a chance to be heard. This is the key to the success of British diplomacy.

LTTE front organisations are nowfinding it hard to have low profile fund raising events as moderate Sri Lankans who eschew violence come forward to voice their concern. Apart from the exposure of the credit card racket; arrest of leading LTTE figures and exposing the bankruptcy of the so called Sinhala nationalists are a few of the successstories.

Under her leadership she has renounced extremism and extremist elements - a bold move when the government she represents relies on the support of the JVP and JHU for its survival. She is indeed a credit to professional diplomats.

WhatSri Lanka needs today is neither Sinhalapatriots, nor Tamil or Muslim patriots, but Sri Lankan patriots.We Sri Lankans in the United Kingdom have understood this need and groups such as the CPUSL are active in promoting the need for everyone in our country to think that we are Sri Lankans as much as the British, Americans and Germans collectively identify themselves as British, American and German nationals.

Where moderate Sri Lankans from the UNP, SLFP, Muslim Congress, EROS etc., have all come together to renounce violence and demand from all parties to enter into a negotiated settlement to end the conflict in Sri Lanka, it is very clear that peace can be achieved in Sri Lanka by negotiation than by fighting and killing each other.

We the members of CPUSL therefore sincerely feel that disruptive forces such as the LTTE, JVP and the JHU stand in the way of peace. But it is a matter of consolation that moderate Sri Lankans, in Sri Lanka as well as outside, far out number these three groups put together.

Therefore it is time to take the London diplomatic endeavour as the benchmark and strive to muster the voice of moderate Sri Lankans, locally andabroad and say enough is enough!

We Sri Lankans being peace loving by nature surely can sort out our problems by discussion while respecting the rights of others to hold their own views.

Lakshan Wanigasooriya

CPUSL Working Committee Member

United Kingdom

Did the truth slip? 

The much-hyped Eastern Provincial Council elections are over and Pillayan has already been sworn in as the Chief Minister. The UNP and SLMC are saying the election was grossly undemocratic. The UPFA is saying the election was totally democratic. We, the general public, are clueless as to the truth.

However, I think Pillayan made everything clear during the speech he made at the swearing-in ceremony. He said thathis victory was not a normal one, but a 'democratic one.'

I think, in a democratic country, a normal election victory is democratic and nothing less. What did Pillayan mean when he said that this victory was not 'a normal one'? Remember Sri Lanka is after all a democratic country! Did the truth slip? Was it a slip of the tongue?

Jeyam

Colombo