Wednesday, January 19, 2011

What development to expect when both Public as well as Private sector is performing in this manner?


The Scene One.
Seventeen days after paying money in full only the installation and connection were completed by a private television company.
At the time of payment, it was to take only three to five working days to complete the transaction.
I am still trying to understand the true meaning of their interpretation of the phrase “Working Day” as it is apparently obvious that they do have fewer working days than non-working days.
Exactly the same numbers of days were taken by someone to travel around the world in a hot air balloon a few years back.
The installation party confirmed their arrival in the morning but arrived at the location five hours later.
That too without many of the tools needed for the work.
And imaging the plight of us, if we were unable to provide them the things that they were supposed to carry along with them in their mobile unit.  
The company was happy to blame everything under the Sun like high demand, holidays, inclement weather to name a few than admitting neither their incompetency nor apologetic.
The Scene  Two.
The street lamp in front of the house catches fire when switched on.
First the Electricity Board was contacted which was not under their purview, so we were told.
The Urban council was contacted then and was assured that the reported fault would be corrected.
Two weeks have elapsed but the status of the street lamp is as it was before.
The latest excuse was that their break-down unit would visit our residential area only on Thursdays.
Now I am waiting till the next Thursday.
But not to get the issue sorted out but to hear another lame excuses from them only.
What development would one expect when both the Public as well as the Private sector is performing in this manner?
The time has arrived to purge such non or under performers, if one truly believing in achieving a real and lasting development in this country.

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Development at what cost?

Yesterday, I was shocked and amazed to see the safety regulations being openly violated at the Matara-Colombo Hi-way construction site situated at Makumbura.
The workers were allowed to work on machineries, carry heavy items etc without the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).
Except for Hard-hats, no other protective equipment has been provided to any of the staffs working at this site.
When I tried to communicate with one of the foreign nationals overseeing the operation at this site to raise my concerns, he was pretending not to understand a word of English.
I am sure those who have accepted the BOT (Build/Operate & Transfer) contracts are aware of those safety concerns and given enough provisions to fulfill all the requirements prior to acceptance.
I also wonder where the government Health & Safety inspectors were.
Development is necessary but at what cost and on whose expense are important questions that we need to ask when such flagrant violations being committed openly.