Sad Situation in Sri Lanka.

හොර පව්ලක් රකින්න ඇයි මේ මුලු රටම දුක් විඳින්නේ?

 හොර පව්ලක් රකින්න ඇයි මේ මුලු රටම දුක් විඳින්නේ?

හෙට (29 වැනි බදාදා උදේ 10 ට) වාහන ඇතුව හෝ නැතුව, කලු ඇඳගෙන හෝ නැතුව ඔක්කොම පාරට බහිමු. 

සඩ්ඩම්බිරාළලා, කහ ටී ෂර්ට් කාරයොයි විතරක් ගෙදර හිටපුවාවේ..

සිමෙන්ති බංකුවේ නිදන්න කලියෙන් !

Why is this whole country has to suffer to save a rogue family?

Tomorrow (Wednesday 29th at 10 am) we will all take to the streets with or without vehicles, dressed in black or not.

The only ones left at home will be the Arse lickers of this regime and the mad Yellow T-shirts.

How to Pick the Right Representative?

How to pick the right representative in the next election. 

Check List

1.      Consideration of age,

a.       Age between 30 and 60 is preferred,

b.      Anyone beyond the range will be a bane than a boon,

2.      Educational prerequisites,

a.       A minimum of a college degree or an equivalent qualification is a must,

b.      Under exceptional circumstances only others with proven past track records should be considered,

3.      Current employment,

a.       Anyone who is gainfully employed based on his or her educational qualifications and or conducting a legitimate business is worthy of consideration,

b.      Anyone who is even rumoured to be involved in or enabling illegal activities such as embezzlement, deforestation, drugs, human & arms trafficking, etc. will be a major red flag.

4.      Criminal history,

a.       Anyone with a criminal record or a pending serious crime case verdict is a major red flag,

5.      Income source,

a.       Anyone who is receiving income from his or her employment, hereditary and or from a legitimate business is a worthy consideration,

b.      Anyone who is even rumoured to have benefited from involvement in any illicit activities will be a serious red flag.

6.      Physical condition,

a.       Anyone with serious health problems or physical limitations should not be considered,

7.      Social contribution,

a.       Previous contributions to the development and improvement of his or her community should be viewed favourably,

8.      Manifesto,

a.       Having his or her own manifesto, in addition to party  line *if any) should be viewed as a positive indicator,

9.      Residency,

a.       Permanent and current residency must be within the relevant electorate.

Feel free to add/delete and/or discuss.

Something like this should be worked on and shared in all three official languages with as many as possible.

The Colombians are very active and knowledgeable but very small in number. Their contribution will hardly move the needle when it comes to voting.

My belief is that the real numbers are in villages and educating them can change the outcome favourably.

The Colombians’ positive attitude and enthusiasm should be channelled to achieve the ultimate objective of educating the mass.

There is a belief among non-city dwellers that anything from the city should be avoided because it contains western influences that are harmful to the culture in general.

This is why crooks like Rajapaksas' always score high in village counts.

Open Letter to Hamilton Reserve Bank Chairman Sir Tony Baldry

The Right Honourable Sir Tony Baldry,

The Chairman,

Hamilton Reserve Bank Limited,

Hamilton Reserve Bank Plaza,

Jessups Estate,

Nevis,

St. Kitts & Nevis

Dear Sir,

This message serves two objectives.

The first is to thank you for starting a legal proceeding in the USA to try and recover from Sri Lanka the full amount of the principal and accrued interest on the USD 250 million in international sovereign bonds due in July 2025, which is highly improbable given that the nation has already been declared bankrupt.

The second and most significant goal is to beg and ask for the due amounts to be recovered from the personal riches of individuals who brought Sri Lanka to its knees on behalf of the people of the nation.

Because of the ruthless robbery of public funds in Sri Lanka, as you have pointed out, the very people who caused this crisis have accumulated wealth beyond anyone's wildest dreams and safely stashed them in other countries, notably the United States of America.

With a typical household income of $120 USD per month and a GDP per capita of roughly $4100 USD, Sri Lanka is a highly underdeveloped country.

We shall be a doomed country with no chance of recovery and a very dark future if this money must also be paid from national resources in some way.

Therefore, my supplication on behalf of all the honest and law-abiding people of Sri Lanka is to press hard to recover your due amounts from the perpetrators who have their ill-gotten wealth in properties, investments etc. in many parts of the free world, including the United States of America.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Sasanka De Silva.

සිමෙන්ති බංකුවේ නිදන්න කලියෙන් !

උදේ ඉඳන් රටේ වෙන අසාධාරණකම් සමාජ මාධ්‍යවල දිග අරින සම හරක් ඒවා නැති කරන්න ක්‍රමයක් හොයන්නේ නැහැ.

හොර රහසේ ඒවට උල්පන්දම් දිදී ඒවා නැති කරන්න කතා කරලා වැඩක් තියෙනවද?

තමන්ට ලැබෙන වේතනයට අමතරව කරන රස්සාවෙන් කීයක් හරි ගසා ගන්න බලන අය අරගලයට ජය වේවා කියලා සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ජාලා පිරෙන්න ලොකු කතා දැම්මට අරගලය දිනවන්නත් බැහැ, 

හොරු පන්නන්නත බැහැ.

අරහලය තමන්ගෙන්ම පටන් ගම්මු.

ඔය අරයා මෙයා ඇවිත් මේක සුරපුරක් කරන්කම් බලන් හිටියා මදිද තාම.

රාවණා, දිය සේනලා තාම ගෑස් ගන්න, තෙල් ගහ ගන්න පෝලිම් වල වගේ.

ලී ක්වාන් යූ, මහතීර්ලා ගෙන්නලා කර ගත්ත විනාශය මදිද තාමත්.

ඔය මොකා ආවත් රට හදන්න බැහැ අපි අපේ අරගලය අපෙන්ම පටන් ගත්තේ නැතනම්.

බුධු බනෙත් කියලා තියෙනවනේ "අත්තාහි අත්ත නෝ නාථෝ"  කියලා.

සංඛ්‍යා ලේකන වල 69% හිටියට බුදු බණ පිලිපදින කීයක් මේ රටේ ඉන්නවද?‍

ඒකට පිළිතුර ඔබම දන්නවා ඇතිනේ, ලෝකයාට වඩා.

අරගලයට කලු ඇඳුම් ඕනෙත් නැහැ, කහ ටී ෂර්ට් ඕනෙත් නැහැ, ඒ අරගලය තමන්ගෙන්ම පටන් ගත්ත දවසට.

අර සම හරක් ආගම්වාදීන් හිතන විදියට අරගලය කියන්නෙත් අංක ක්‍රිඩාවක් නෙමෙයි.

සීයක් හිටියත් වැඩක් නැහැ අනූ නමයක්ම අරගලය අනුන් කරන කම් බලන්න ඉන්න කට්ටියක් නම්.

අරගලය සාර්ථක වෙච්ච දවසට "අපි තමයි හොඳටම කරේ" කියලා එලියට බහින්න නම් දාස් ගනන් ඇති.

එදා අර රේල්පාරේ කැත කරලා සුද්දාගේ කාලේ ඉංදියාවේ හිරේ හිටපු ගොයියෝ ටික මහත්මා ගාන්ධිතුමා එක්ක හිරෙන් එලියට  ආවේ දේශප්‍රේමීන් වගේ.

රේල් පාරේ කැත කරලා හිරේ ගිහින් පොදු සමාවකින් එලියට ඇවිත් දේශප්‍රේමීන් වෙන්න හිතන් ඉන්න එපා මෙහෙත්.

අරගලය තමන්ගෙන්ම පටන් ගම්මු.

සමහර විට ඔබේ ජීවිත කාලේදිම එහි ප්‍රතිපල නෙලා ගන්න බැරිවෙන්න පුලුවන්, ඒත් ඔබ නිදහස් මිනිහෙක් හැටියට මැරෙන්න පුලුවන් විඳවන්නේ නැතුව.

ඊලඟ පරපුරවත් මේ අපායෙන් ගලව ගන්න අපි කවුරුත් උත්සහ කරමු.

පලමු උත්සහයෙන්ම ප්‍රතිපල නොදකින්න සම හර විට නොහැකි වෙන්න පුලුවන්.

ඒත් උත්සහය අත් නොහරින්න.

මිල මුදල්, වස්තු නෙමෙයි අපි අපේ දූ දරුවන්ට ඉතුරු කරන්න අවශ්‍ය.

සිතීමට දැන් කාලය පැමිණ ඇත.

 

Privileges at Whose Cost?

Defence gets the biggest budgetary allocation in Sri Lanka and understandably so due to three decades of civil war or whatever one wants to call it.

Now there is no war or even a remote possibility of one, but the defence budget keeps rising every year, depriving much-needed funds for others like education and health.

Both education and health do not even get a 3% allocation.

That is a very sad thing, and recently we became the country in South Asia with the highest number of malnourished children.

When calls for defence cuts surface, many blame such calls on either the JVP or the Tamil Diaspora for incitement.

I really do not know whether they really originate from one of the sources mentioned above by many.

But I agree with their call, not because I am a member or a sympathizer of any of those.

Those who have read my blog and other writings for more than two decades are well aware of my position on both entities.

Recently in a speech given to a Lawyers Association by Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, the one who really won the war against the terrorist group mentioned how the funds and facilities are abused by the defence official.

He has attended a defence college in the UK and some of the interesting points mentioned about him are as below in dot points.

• The college is housed in a six-story building in London's centre.
• The facility's commanding officer is a Two-Star General who takes public transportation to work.
• Each training course has 80 students from various parts of the world.
• The unit was run by only 35 people, both academic and non-academic.
• Generally, two students per staff member.

Then he compared it to the Sri Lanka Army Officers’ training unit at Batalanda.

• 50 officers eligible for the major rank are trained there in each session.
• There are more than 350 staff (academic and non-academic) to run the unit
• The ratio here is seven (07) staff for each student.

The link to his speech is given below, if anyone wants to listen and verify facts.

The Sri Lanka Army's utilization of resources, in comparison, is absurd, to say the least.

According to the Army Act of Sri Lanka,

•  A single-vehicle can only be used to transport officers of a certain rank and above.
• The officer should be in his/her uniform.
• No one other than the driver is permitted in the vehicle.
• The only exception to allowing another person in the same vehicle is when the officer is required to attend a ceremony and is entitled to have the spouse accompany him or her.
• And the officer has to be in the appropriate attire to suit the occasion.

However, if you visit any prestigious school in Colombo, you would notice a large number of military force cars delivering students.

So it is at numerous supermarkets, where you will witness a soldier carrying the shopping of an officer's wife.

These are quite common observations on a daily basis.

This is an example of resource mismanagement.

Those who support defence budget cutbacks, such as myself, are asking for a reduction in those silly expenditures rather than meaningful investments such as training the brightest minds in the country in modern and frontier war techniques and know-how.

All we do currently is use defence colleges to recruit poor talent into the defence system, and we will not go any further with such investments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVNRijfQrRI

 

Is Formal Education a Must ?

Every time politics is discussed in Sri Lanka, one word comes to the fore: education or the level of education.

Everyone refers to formal education, but is it a must to be successful?

Some are lucky to be able to get a good formal education, but some are not.

For various reasons, many fall through the cracks.

Yes, good formal education is a stepping stone to success for many, but is it an absolute necessity?

Especially in politics.

How many very well-educated politicians we have seen in this country so far?

They may have served well in their chosen fields, but when it comes to politics, their contribution is very minuscule.

I think what we want is people who are able to conceptualize rather than ones with flamboyant formal educational qualifications.

If we want to see a positive trend in Sri Lankan politics, we must change our thinking.

Otherwise, it's the same old poor outcomes.

Human Chain - Come Join US !

The average length of any queue waiting for fuel is more than 2 kilometres and not less than that.

Just imagine the number of cars, heavy vehicles, three-wheelers and motorbikes in each queue.

Those lines are no longer a rarity, but rather a common occurrence.

If there are two sheds in each town, it's the same situation in both locations.

ඉන්ධන සඳහා රැඳී සිටින ඕනෑම පෝලිමක සාමාන්ය දිග කිලෝමීටර 2 කට වඩා වැඩි වන අතර ඊට වඩා අඩු නොවේ.

නිකමට හිතන්න එක එක පෝලිමේ තියෙන කාර්, බර වාහන, ත්රිරෝද රථ, යතුරුපැදි ගණන.

එම රේඛා තවදුරටත් දුර්ලභ දෙයක් නොව සාමාන්ය සිදුවීමකි.

සෑම නගරයකම මඩු දෙකක් තිබේ නම්, එය ස්ථාන දෙකෙහිම එකම තත්ත්වයයි.

For the sake of calculation purposes, if we assume the value of one manhour is one rupee, one can assess the colossal loss the situation is bringing in.

It will be one rupee multiplied by the number of hours in a queue, multiplied again by the number of vehicles.

That does not include the cost involved in healthcare needs due to health issues brought on by high stress etc.

ගණනය කිරීමේ අරමුණු සඳහා, අපි එක් මිනිස් පැයක වටිනාකම රුපියලක් යැයි උපකල්පනය කරන්නේ නම්, තත්වය ගෙන එන දැවැන්ත පාඩුව තක්සේරු කළ හැකිය.

එය රුපියල පෝලිමක ගත කරන පැය ගණනින් ගුණ කර, වාහන ගණනින් නැවත ගුණ කළ විට මුලු අගය දල වසයෙන් තීරණය කල හැක.

අධික ආතතිය ආදිය නිසා ඇතිවන සෞඛ්ය ගැටලු හේතුවෙන් සෞඛ්ය සේවා අවශ්යතා සඳහා වන පිරිවැය එයට ඇතුළත් නොවේ.

Unfortunately, the present regime is totally incapable of doing anything to ease the situation, and so are the people in the opposition in parliament right now.

They are more concerned with preserving their positions and privileges than with addressing the country's most pressing issues.

අවාසනාවකට වත්මන් පාලනයට තත්ත්වය සමනය කිරීම සඳහා කිසිවක් කිරීමට සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම නොහැකි වී ඇති අතර මේ වන විට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්ෂයේ සිටින පුද්ගලයින් ද එසේමය.

ඔවුන් වැඩි සැලකිල්ලක් දක්වන්නේ රටේ වඩාත්ම දැවෙන ප්රශ්නවලට විසඳුම් සෙවීමට වඩා තම තනතුරු සහ වරප්රසාද රැක ගැනීමටය.

Now the question is, what can we, as ordinary people, do to bring about the changes we so desperately need, and is there a way out of this situation?

Yes, there is a real and possible way out.

That is to overhaul the present system completely and bring in capable and honest people to steer the ship.

Enough of waiting for the current crooks to do something to change the situation soon.

Or hoping for mythical figures like Diyasena or Ravan to come and save us from our misery.

දැන් ප්රශ්නය නම්, සාමාන්ය මිනිසුන් ලෙස අපට අත්යවශ්ය වෙනස්කම් ඇති කිරීමට කුමක් කළ හැකිද, මෙම තත්වයෙන් මිදීමට මගක් තිබේද?

ඔව්, සැබෑ සහ හැකි මාර්ගයක් තිබේ.

එනම් පවතින ක්රමය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ප්රතිසංස්කරණය කර නෞකාව මෙහෙයවීමට දක්ෂ අවංක පුද්ගලයන් ගෙන්වා ගැනීමයි.

මේ තත්ත්වය ඉක්මනින් වෙනස් කිරීමට වත්මන් තක්කඩියන් යමක් කරන තෙක් බලා සිටීම ප්රමාණවත් නොවේ.

නැත්නම් දියසේන, රාවණා වගේ මිත්යා චරිත ඇවිත් අපිව අපේ දුකෙන් ගලවා ගනීවි කියලා බලාපොරොත්තු තියාගෙන වැඩක් නැහැ.

Come join others on the 18th of June 2022 to voice and express our expectations to bring about lasting solutions to the present crisis and all other issues plaguing the country right now.

2022 ජූනි 18 වැනි දින අන් අය සමඟ එකතු වී වත්මන් අර්බුදයට සහ මේ වන විට රට පීඩාවට පත් කර ඇති අනෙකුත් සියලුම ගැටලුවලට තිරසාර විසඳුම් ගෙන ඒම සඳහා අපගේ අපේක්ෂාවන් ප්රකාශ කිරීමට හඬ නඟන්න.

Winding Down Niagara Visit

And if We Don't Wake Up Right Away, We'll Die in Shame.

Late Mr Robert Mugabe hated white people so much that he destroyed most of them and the entire country by staging a useless revolution in Zimbabwe.

It was known as Rhodesia before, and tobacco was their main export and income.

I remember meeting some Rhodesian delegation at the Katunayake Airport who was in transit on their way to another country.

On departure, the flight manager gave me a packet of cigarettes and I refused to accept them.

First, it was unethical to accept anything in return for a service, and secondly, I was not a smoker.

Then he insisted on keeping it as a memento and I still remember what he said more than four decades ago, echoing in my ears.

"We grow tobacco and our packs are the only ones that have 30 cigarettes in each of them."

Yes, he was right. It had 30 cigarettes in it.

I did not keep it as a memento but gave it to someone addicted to smoking soon after they left the place.

Rhodesia became Zimbabwe after a stupid revolution, some whites left the country for good, farms were destroyed, and finally, the Zimbabwe dollar became so useless that they had to print One Hundred Trillion Dollar notes to keep up with hyperinflation due to corruption and economic mismanagement.

And finally, the so-called revolutionary leader had to flee the country and die in another country’s hospital.

The country never recovered after the savage rape, but now they have given up their own currency notes and turned to the United States Dollars for their daily transactions, something their leaders so despised.

A similar situation is in Venezuela too now.

It was once an oil-rich country, but another revolution, corruption, and economic mismanagement have brought them to its knees just like Zimbabwe.

Instead of Bolivars, people have now turned to the world's most trusted currency, the US Dollar, for their daily transactions.

Again, pure hatred, corruption, and mismanagement were to blame for their downfall too.

And we're not far behind Zimbabwe and Venezuela in terms of anti-white, anti-western sentiments, as well as, most importantly, corruption and economic incompetence.

The ingredients are different this time, but it's another surefire recipe for imminent calamity.

To stay in power and cover up their failures and levels of corruption, leaders spread hostility and misinformation to the masses.

Unless we get things straight, we'll be on our knees soon, and we'll be compelled to utilize foreign currency notes instead of Sri Lankan rupees for our daily operations.

And if we don't wake up right away, we'll die in shame.

Lone Guitarist

My Name is Bashir Khan !

Reawakening Hambantota

Historical importance

This area has historical importance.

40,000 years or so ago, when the first humans stepped onto this land from the east, they settled in and around the area to seek refuge.

Years of archaeological excavations done in the area have found many artefacts dating back to that time.

People from far-flung places like Morocco have come here as traders and later found safe heaven and a trading base around the seaport.

It is said that the famous Omani seafarer Sinbad visited the area during his epic journey to China from Sohar in the Sultanate of Oman.

However, in the present context, the area has taken some beatings not because of the year 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami but because of the political-ideological point of view.

Some feel the location is the epicentre of the country's current calm and infrastructure developments since the terrorist group's demise in May 2009.

Others, however, believe that the area has taken a Pariah status as a result of legacy-creating white elephant projects undertaken after the May 2009 victory.

There are two sides to every argument, and Hambantota is no exception.

It's an attractive development target area because it's easily accessible by road, air, and sea, and there are plenty of open spaces.

Due to this tug of war between many fractions, the area with so much potential has not taken off, and the purpose of this essay is to explore such possibilities.

Existing facilities and resources (both new and old),

1. Base Hospital,

2. International Conference Hall,

3. International Airport,

4. International Harbor,

5. Expressway link,

6. Saltern,

7. Renewable Power Projects,

a. Wind power,

b. Solar power,

8. Wildlife & Marine life.

All of those facilities and resources can be put to good use for the country's growth, provided political wrangling stops and decision-makers focus on the vast opportunities that exist in and around the area.

Development suggestion

To create a fee base university specialized in the following areas;

1. Medicine,

2. Civil and Commercial Aviation,

3. Maritime Studies,

4. Renewable Energy,

5. Wildlife and Marine life using existing resources.

The university's primary and administrative structure, with a few more annexures to serve other demands, might be transformed from the current and underutilized Conference Hall facility.

The Base Hospital can be utilized to house the School of Medicine's medical students’ practical and clinic requirements.

The Civil and Commercial Aviation School's practical on-the-job training facilities can be employed at the Mattala International Airport, the most talked about and loneliest airport facility in the world.

The port infrastructure will be used to meet the practical training needs of the proposed Maritime Studies School.

Renewable Energy Plans and Saltern can be used for Practical Training and Experiments at the Renewable Energy Studies School.

Wild elephants crossing highways is a typical sight in this area, and it is often discussed but anything is rarely done.

Human-elephant conflict is a never-ending problem with no winners, but both losers.

Teaching in the Wild Life faculty can look into this issue to find a viable and cheaper solution.

Further down a few kilometres away is the Yala National Park and it will be a treasure trove for the students and academia alike.

A few kilometres out in the sea, where the Indian Ocean meets the Arabian Sea, the area is a treasure mine for anyone interested in marine life.

Because the area is technically within Sri Lanka's maritime borders, such a natural treasure can be explored for the benefit of the students of the proposed Wildlife and Marine Life School without any difficulty.

Management of the Facility

The controlling business appoints a board of trustees with appropriate qualifications and backgrounds.

Students' Demography

Most government universities in Sri Lanka do not entertain foreign students, except a few, and that too, in very small numbers at a time.

Local and international applications should account for 70% to 30% of each intake.

The reasoning for the decision is that it will be an earning opportunity for foreign currency from international student applications, which is something the government desperately requires right now.

The other is to expose local students to diverse cultures and intellectual levels as if they were studying at an international university.

It would broaden their minds and teach them to tolerate and accept others with diverse values and cultures.

It would be a fantastic approach to eradicate the stagnant "Island Mentality" from the brains of young and educated people.

Intakes

The figures should be planned to make the best use of available resources and facilities.

Overcrowding will eventually result in a decline in teaching quality, and it should be avoided at all costs.

Composition of Teaching Staff

The teaching staff should be made up of 70% local persons with relevant qualifications and 30% from other nations.

Again, the objective is to increase the diversity and competitiveness of the teaching pool.

In the end, the broad pool of teaching staff will benefit pupils more.

Recruitments

All recruitments including non-academic carders will be on a renewable contract basis only.

Fee Base

To be on par with many of the existing schools in the area (India, Bangladesh, Malaysia etc.),

Payments

Student fees,

1. Local students pay in local currency.

2. Foreign students in an acceptable foreign currency equivalent to the quoted amounts of fees and others

Remuneration

Both local and foreign teachers will be paid in local currency, on par with other universities in the region.

Accommodation facility

Fully fledge housing/hostel facilities for both teaching and students and the rental charges will be at par with the accommodation in other parts of the region with similar facilities.

1. Uninterrupted power supply,

2. Fast internet connection,

3. Market for daily needs within the campus,

4. Recreational area,

5. Cooking & laundry facility,

Transportation

1. Within the campus,

    a. Bicycles, electric vehicles to be used,

2. External transportation,

    a. use of existing facilities,

Safety and Security

1. Secured parameter,

2. 24 x 7 CCTV monitoring,

3. Mobile Campus Police with required authority and equipment,

4. 911 type reporting system within the parameter and App-based system, accessible only to currently registered and verified users, for any reporting or alerts

Library facility

At least at par with any of the world-recognized universities,

Banking Facility

To wean off the monopolistic non-competitiveness, both government control and private banks are needed to be established within.

Recognition

1. University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka,

2. Any well-known foreign university.

Affiliation

With one of the best-known universities in the world,

Funding,

This will be the most difficult component of the project, but it is not impossible if the appropriate approach is taken without involving politicians.

To run it solely as a legitimate business venture.

Partly locally (Infrastructural developments) and

Receiving philanthropic funding from well-known business entities or families who want to leave a legacy in someone's name is preferable.

The foreign partnership is required to get the finest of the best products for facilities such as libraries and delicate and dedicated equipment.

Again, such individuals can be offered the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy by delivering necessities for free or at a very low cost.

Arbitration

In the event of any arbitral requirements, the current local and globally recognized modes will be used.

Benefits

Immense and innumerable, in the field of education, transport, and the improvement of human life, to mention a few.

Conclusion

Many of the country's major cities are within easy reach of the facility, which is now connected to the expressway network, and all of the other external infrastructure required for the proposed university's operation are within less than 10 kilometres of the base (the present international conference facility will be considered the base). 

If the necessary funds can be found both internally and externally, it should be a success story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CEB Service Charge Hike ?

Recently, the Ceylon Electricity Board has increased their service charge from Rs 30/= to Rs 540/=.

What a monumental increase that was.

We live in Kottawa and we are connected to the Pannipitiya substation.

These days, in addition to the island-wide power interruptions, we experience at least 2 to 3 power interruptions ranging from a few minutes to hours.

It is an obvious fact then that they have no reliable service at the moment, and hence I see no reason why the service charge has to be increased so much.

I was told that a simple meter reader is taking home a six-figure salary, despite the fact that the entity is losing money so much and the treasury has to supplement them for their existence.

Social media is awash these days with details of some of the bigwigs’ take-home salaries.

The interesting question is, why should they be paid so much when they are really not making any profit and are also bleeding the country’s coffers so much?

One of the world's leading lending agency officials once told me that with the money we cough out every year to keep this top-heavy and bleeding entity alive, we could make a four-lane (one direction) highway right around the country and or build 10 rural hospitals every year.

I do not believe that most of the current politicians are keen on taking the issue seriously.

The only capable hand I see among them is Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka.

The reason why is that this electricity mafia has created such a fear among them that nobody dares to burn their fingers confronting them.

And the other reason is that we, the end-users, are so silent and give in to all their whims and demands without even blinking an eye. 

If we want to see results, then we should demand changes.

Like the famous Sinhala saying “අඬන්න ඕනේලු කිරි එරෙන්නත්” (The mother will not feed unless the child cries).

Let us make an effort individually and collectively to demand changes and, sooner or later, some of the politicians are going to take us seriously.

Sadly, I have seen many still have the obduracy to say that they are not interested in politics, but little do they realize that whether they like it or not, politics is going to affect them too.

Look at the present situation in the country. 

You may not have voted for the current regime to come to power, but you still have to be in queues to get essentials.

Stop pretending වැට උඩ, taking a defensive stance and start speaking up about important issues that affect both you and me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

පාඩු ලබන ආයතන ප්‍රධානීන්ට මෙච්චර ගෙවිය යුතුද?

 පාඩු ලබන ආයතන ප්‍රධානීන්ට මෙච්චර ගෙවිය යුතුද?

ඔබේ චන්දය

Be the Master of Your Own Destiny ( තමන් හිසට තම අතමය සෙවනැල්ල ).

I posted on my Facebook wall,

 

“විදේශ්ගත ශ්රමිකයිනි,
අපි කරපු මෝඩකම් නුඹලාත් නොකිරීමට වග බලා ගන්න.”

What I meant by this was,

• We paid for half of the protracted war effort by sending money home, and our leaders siphoned off the majority of that money by issuing exaggerated invoices and claims.

• In exchange, we received nothing tangible, unlike others claiming to be professionals and politicians and receiving duty-free car permits, etc.

• We have been subjected to unnecessary inconveniences, beginning with boarding an aircraft and continuing through customs, immigration, and even taxi stands.

• We were treated as if we were worthless even at local banks.

That is why I suggest these to you:

• Send the smallest amount of money possible home, just enough for the family back home to live comfortably.

• Make as many savings as possible.

• While working abroad, obtain a trade or technical certificate that will allow you and your immediate family members to legally migrate to a developed country.

•Go to one of those places and live a good life.

Do not think about the land you have left.

Do not believe the nonsense about mythical figures such as රාවණා, දිය සේන, and coming to make this land the envy of the rest of the world.

It is not going to happen ever.

Remember the old Sinhala saying “තමන් හිසට තම අතමය සෙවනැල්ල”.

You control your own destiny and be the master of your own life and not a slave of someone forever.

We made a very big mistake by investing in the motherland, thinking that we would have an easy life after returning home.

And it was a near-fatal decision. 

Now we are stuck in a hell hole until we breathe our last breath.

The Vanishing Charm !

Air travel has an alluring charm even for a seasoned veteran.

We flew back from New Jersey a few days ago, and we were anticipating a pleasant flight on a carrier regarded as one of the best in the region.

And, in the end, it was a complete disappointment owing to the encounters we had along the route.

In all three sectors, complimentary face masks and hand sanitizers were only given in one aisle, but the other aisle was not.

The crew members were carrying meal trays in hand stacked up to their chins, and that was not a very professional way of conducting service.

They remind me of head loaders who work at south Indian railway stations, transporting passengers' luggage back and forth.

The normal meal service was started 25 to 45 minutes after the delivery of special meals, with the shorter sector registering the shortest time.

When we boarded from Athens, we discovered that the bathrooms and seat pockets had been left unattended and that the former had been left in an extremely unsanitary state.

During the last sector meal service, my wife requested 7-up with her meal, which was bluntly refused, stating that it was a limited service and no carbonated drinks were included in the service.

When she asked if this was a well-known airline service, the crew's response was even more unexpected.

His reply was, “We serve what we have been given only”,

But later he changed his tune and promised to bring some from the rear galley, but it never arrived until we landed at Colombo.

Some of the occurrences were, according to my reading, due to the level of staff training, attitude, and inadequate supervision.

The fact that meal service takes longer is a systemic problem that management must investigate in order to find a solution.