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Morning Spice by Ginger
Sri Lankans to fly homefor ChristmasAnd now the charter flights would be coming in from Australia. Ginger does not know how many home sick Sri Lankans would be flying in to spend the Christmas season in their old home land. Our Cricketers I think would be there at about that time and many Sri Lankans may prefer to stay behind and cheer our lads on to greater efforts yet there would be quite a few of them here later in the year.
Most of them have their relatives with whom they would be staying but there may be others whose close relations would be no more or have migrated to Australia. Very often charter flights include hotel accommodation in their packages but some don't and many may come for long stays where such an arrangement does not obtain. This is where well organized home stays could help. Many prefer the more informal atmosphere of a home to hotel life when staying for a long time. Now this is where the tourist board could step in to help the industry by some imaginative advertising and also offering those responding some incentive for introducing foreigners to those running such places. At the same time these homes would have to earn a reputation for giving their guests the right deal"
Regular exercise
Are you asthmatic and does it get in the way of your regular exercise. Many asthmatic do not take any kind of exercise on start wheezing or get acute symptoms of asthma when they do. Now there seems to be more than a little hope for them in the sense that they need not live a sedutary life but go out and have their outdoor exercise.Two drugs have been discovered that are supposed to work wonders keeping off asthma symptoms when exercising. The first is a pill called montelukas and the second is an inhalant called salmeterot which can be taken daily to prevent wheezing due to exercise.
A new breed of criminals
There appear to be a new breed of criminal they comprise waiters that some hotels employ and those that caterers bring for functions you dare not leave your drink and walk across to talk to some one. The moment your back is turned the drink is drained down by a waiter. I do not want to tar every waiter with the same brush. There are some who are absolutely reliable.The dishonesty of a few however often can bring the entire lot to disrepute. How sharp are these who supervise these waiters. Do they realize that it could all be a little bad for business. People will talk and then the news spreads not only pretty fast but comes out in garbled and distorted from at a certain stage. A watchful eye should be kept on them and if ditected not allowed to be anywhere where food and drink are served.
Being a senior retired police officer, having served the Dept. for over 36 years, I am constrained once again having read quite often in the media of some of the gruesome killings of innocent old and young people and even children and infants and now the recent senseless rape and killing of the daughter-in-law of a very senior retired Police Officer at Modera - a foreigner at that, to re-quote the words of Patrick J. Buchanan: 'A modern society that outlaws the death penalty does not send a message of reverence for life, but a message of moral confusion. When we outlaw the death penalty, we tell the murderer that, no matter what he may do to innocent people in our custody and care - women, children, old people - his most treasured possession - his life, is secure. We guarantee it in advance. Just as a nation that declares that nothing will make it go to war, finds itself at the mercy of warlike regimes - so a society that will not put the worst of its criminals to death will find itself at the mercy of criminals who have no qualms about putting innocent people to death".
Many letters published on above subject had obviously fallen on the presumably deaf and indifferent ears of our legislators, despite the continuous frightening trend that is taking our beloved country into a state of anarchy. Has good governance taken a back seat and numbed itself to the current state of violence and allowed the country to be ruled by the thug and the hooligan, the pervert and the rapist, the extortionist and the murderer?
Please, President Kumaratunga - do please bring back the death penalty for those found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. You along with Minister of Justice and with all the other literate legislators, elected by the voters of this country, must ensure that the Death Penalty for murder must be carried out and not commuted to one of a prison sentence for 'life' which today, invariably is subsequently by various amnesties, pardons, etc. and the 'guilty" enters back into society in just a few years time to become a threat once more to the law abiding citizens of this country, who as stated earlier live in a state of fear due to the absolute inefficiency, lethargy and indifference of our law makers and law enforcers.
I fervently hope that this letter too would not fall once again on the assuming 'deaf' ears of our legislators, but something tangible be visibly done to ensure all citizens - the freedom from living in fear. Please do not make a mockery of our justice system to go on unabated under the guise of 'Dharmista".
I take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt deepest sympathies to the near and dear ones of those who have been victims of murder, rape and other atrocities committed by criminals, most of whom are still at large in this country.
Nizam Cassim,
Rajagiriya.
Have the above three words slipped from public notice. These words appear on so many walls in the city and elsewhere only because a disciplined class of people have concluded that posters on walls create such an eyesore. It makes the city exposed as a beggar displays his rags.
Others who condone this practice may not be able to think through the idea behind this message. The person who makes known his aversion to posters on walls obviously likes his wall to be clean and thereby likes his city to look enchanting.
On the contrary these diabolical people who stick bills on walls doubtlessly have had sordid upbringings not to realize what an ugly mess they are creating or is it that they don't care a hoot for others sentiments or the city as long as their own ends are met.
To avoid awkward situations quite cunningly the posters are stuck after dark and no consideration is shown by these miscreants for the irritation caused to the owners and the general public.
The inescapable expenses involved to clean and repaint have to be borne by the owners while these shameless culprits make a cool profit by their low down act, which is hardly fair.
Being a country where much effort is spent to promote tourism, we should try our best to adjust the city to please the eyes of visitors.
In view of the above and as nobody has a right to soil another's walls, the government should without delay prohibit the practice of sticking posters on walls. Also it would be a welcome idea if the government should request occupants of buildings and houses to clean and maintain their outside walls and by the time elections come around the corner it should be an established prohibition.
A Citizen
Constant rain, heavy blowing, muddy roadway, pools of water. But there was no water in Kundasale for people to drink. When I went to Padiwatte and had to remain a few days in connection with the funeral of a close relative. Padiwatte is about 4km away from Kandy bordering the new road to Victoria Reservoir. In an area about 35 acres there are over 100 houses. Almost all of them are owner occupied, mostly by middle class families. There are several aged persons and a number of pensioners of the public service.
A few years ago the Pradeshiya Sabha took steps to supply pipe-born water and all the residents obtained the service and in the process neglected their wells, which was their source of water up to that time. The water supply came from a large tank constructed about a kilometer away. It had a limited capacity for a limited number of consumers. The water supply from this tank was extended to cover other areas and increased seven fold, with the result that there is water on tap only once a week and that too, poor supply. There is also frequent power failure. The road construction work was begun with all pomp and glory and remains half done.
The residents are undergoing severe hardships due to water shortage, in particular, and on their behalf I am writing this.
S. Thambyrajah,
Colombo 3.
My original letter (1/9) seeking information on the disappearing sparrows was in the nature of a trial balloon to test the interest (if any) of our vociferous ornithologists, wild life enthusiasts and environmentalists in the fate of a humble native bird.
The only responses were from one or two other 'non-specialists". Not a whisper was heard from the ornithologists and allied species who prefer to train their binoculars purely on exotic birds such as Red-crested Nitwits and Green-tailed Poppy cocks.
Ah, well!
Tissa Devendra,
Colombo 5.
The appearance of a One Million Dollar bill in Sri Lanka appears to have caused a sensation. For most of us in Sri Lanka, and indeed anywhere in the world, having one million Dollars is a sweet dream. We did not even know that currency notes of such large denomination ever existed.
What I would like to ask the Police and other relevant authorities is why they are harassing only this lady who has brought that note to this country. In my view, the only law / regulation that she has violated is the non declaration of this money to the Customs on her arrival. By any standards, that is not a big crime. Will the Police show the same promptness and enthusiasm to catch everyone who fail to declare large amounts of money to Customs?
It has been reported that the suspect has stolen this money from someone living abroad. But has any complaint in this regard been made by anyone?
The money can be held by the Central Bank for sometime (say 3 months but pay interest) to see whether there are claims coming from any others. However, we can imagine what the pundits at the Central Bank will say. This is Money Laundering or this is connected to drug trafficking, smuggling etc. But it is common sense that notes of such large denominations are unlikely to be popular with people engaged in illegal activities for the simple reason that they attract attention of the authorities.
What I would like to emphasize is that people in authority should get out of this negative mentality of harassing people unnecessarily. They should please see that her claim to this fortune is respected until such time that somebody proves otherwise.
P. B. Dolawatta,
Peradeniya.
Professor R. P. Gunawardena, Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya writes in 'The Island' of October 6th about the flaws in the National Examinations and the adverse effects they have on the future of the innocent candidates. It should be a good eye opener to the setters of these exams papers and the remedial measures he had suggested are salutary, and I hope they would be put intor effect without delay.
At the same time I as an experienced English teacher, as well as a marking examiner have found out some flaws in the O.L. English paper which need remedial measures.
Sometimes there are mistakes in the model answers given by the setters. To cite an example, there is a letter to be written to the editor of a newspaper in question No. 12 in the G.C.E. O.L. exam paper 1997. 'The salutation in the model answer is Dear Sir, 'The correct salutation should be sir, and not Dear Sir. In this instance the candidate may be penalised for the correct answer. 'There were also spelling mistakes in the model essay, 1997, because spelt as becaus languages spelt as langues. Such callousness should not be tolerated in the G.C.E. O/L govt. exam papers.
Another shortcoming that I have found is that most of the questions need short answers. Time is limited to about five minutes for these answers. The majority of the students go on writing long answers for short answers as a result they run short of time. Not only do they get excited when they find they have no time, but also the whole thing becomes a mess, sometimes when they write long answers for short answers, the answer too goes wrong.
As the professor states every mark is of great value to a student. If the instructions in the examination paper state clearly whether the students are to write long or short answers this will greatly help the students to score better marks. English is usually a difficult subject now, because our students learn in the Sinhala medium.
Swarnapali Amarasekera,
Homagama.
I am very much regretfully compelled to write to the newspapers about the drainage overflow right in front of our house for more than two years. This matter was written to the responsible authorities concerned with photographs many a time from October 1997 to April 1998. It is really surprising that up to now there hasn't any action been taken to solve this problem.
Of course, received replies to my letters from all those responsible authorities (excepting for one), advising that appropriate action would be taken in due course.
The situation is now worse. There is no water in our taps in the house, but in the public tap just in front of our house there is plenty. We have no water for our consumption, but just out- side there is drainage overflow. It is so much unpleasant that our children cannot wait at the gate in the morning for their school van, the visitors cannot enter our house without trampling this dirty water.
Just before the municipality election, so many candidates promised that as they came into power their first duty was to solve this major problem.
It is also my duty at this juncture to state that there was a period where a complaint was made to the authorities concerned, action was taken in few days without any delay. And our roads were not dirty as these days.
The authorities who announce to the citizens to 'KEEP THE CITY CLEAN" why not set examples by practising themselves what they preach.
R. Mayan
Jumma Masjid Road
Colombo 10
Down to Earth
Waste not, want not, water
by Derrick SchokmanThe Sri Lanka National Water Supply and Drainage Board has issued a warning that an acute shortage of pipe-borne water can be expected in Greater Colombo by 2003.
It claims that the time has come to recycle pipe-borne water and construct domestic water wells to conserve water.
This situation is not unique to Sri Lanka. Sir Crispin Tickell, one of the organisers of the Earth Summit in Rio, says that 'the world has got a very big water problem; world demand for water doubles every 21 years but the volume available is the same as in Roman times".
According to a report of the UN and Stockholm Environment Institute (1997), two-thirds of the world population will be affected by water shortages in 2025.
Although two-thirds of the earth's surface is water, 97% is undrinkable sea water and 2% is locked in the polar ice-caps.
Surprisingly little is needed for drinking and other personal use. Of the 25% that is consumed the greatest part (70%) goes to agriculture and 25% to industry.
Agriculture
Intensive irrigation has been the principal means of feeding people. But when we look at the future we could face stringent limits to irrigation water, because the land under irrigation per capita is declining.
The era of gigantic dams and big water schemes is coming to an end, bedevilled by increasing costs in real terms, mounting social and environmental implications and the question of efficiency.
In our own country, Sri Lanka, we know that the multi-phased Mahaweli Development Scheme is nearing completion. This means that the extension of irrigation facilities is also coming to an end.
This calls for increasing the efficiency of the already existing irrigation systems and maybe introducing more efficient technology.
In this connection, two lines of action that can be pursued are 'ellangawa" or cascade irrigation derived from ancient wisdom, and drip-irrigation, a product of modern technology.
Ellangawa
"Ellangawa" dates back to the third century. In this system, the run-off from large irrigation reservoirs is directed into four or five small reservoirs for irrigating rice.
Unlike large dams and reservoirs where siltation is a pervasive problem reducing their efficiency and life expectancy, and where water delivered to the crop is only about 40% of what is collected, in cascade irrigation there is no soil erosion and siltation, and 80% of the water is made available to the crop.
Also, unlike large reservoir schemes, where farmers at the end of distribution channels get little or no water, in the cascades there is a far more equitable distribution resulting in higher cropping intensities.
Improved technology and management studies are now being conducted by IMMI, with a view to their implementation in more sustainable systems of farming.
Drip-Irrigation
Drip- irrigation is another strategy which needs to be studied and implemented, because it is 95% efficient.
The water is applied directly to the plant roots through pipes buried along the rows of crops. This way very little is lost to evaporation anda run-off. Farmers in Israel, using this method made the desert bloom.
Industry
Lastly there is the question of industrial water. Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Amherst Massachusetts, contends that as much as 90% savings could be achieved by recycling cooling water.
Developed nations began recycling on a large scale in the 1970s to cope with anti-pollution regulations. It proved to be an effective conservation measure.
In Japan and one-time West Germany, total industrial water use has not risen in two decades, despite large increases in the number of factories.
American steel makers, who once consumed 280 tons of water per every one ton of made steel, now use only 14 tons of new water, the rest is recycled.
Similar technologies need to be introduced to recycle and conserve industrial water in the new factories coming up in Sri Lanka and the Third World.
The time to start conserving the earth's most vital resource is long before the well of life runs dry.
