‘Only for foreigners’
If this is not apartheid, I don’t know what is. Railway stations in Sri Lanka display notices at rest rooms and washrooms saying: ‘Only for foreigners’. Sri Lankans are not allowed and the reason is obvious. Sri Lankans are unclean and live like pigs and hence, foreigners who visit this country should not be subjected to unhealthy conditions at public utilities in the island.
We don’t know to what extent foreigners think about Sri Lankans. They could in all probability be the most embarrassed to visit somebody’s home (in this case Sri Lanka) and realise their host lives in appalling sanitary conditions or have no proper place even in their own home.
Can a dark skinned foreigner go into these places demarcated for foreigners? They also look like many Sri Lankans. Are their living standards higher than Sri Lankans’?
There are also some hotels in Hikkaduwa that shut their doors and restaurants to locals in favour of foreigners.
I believe this kind of thing where foreigners are treated above their hosts does not take place anywhere in the world. We are projecting to the whole world that Sri Lankans live like animals and that our visitors need to be given separate places to wash and rest in public.
If the authorities want to tackle this unhealthy situation, the solution is not in segregation. Discipline and hygiene have to be imposed.
Let me also tell the authorities: Give our foreign visitors everything under the sun, moon and stars to make them comfortable. But bear in mind that a major portion of the foreigners who visit this country are the cheap spending tourists who travel in public trains and buses. The dollar spending foreigners simply fly over Sri Lanka and end up in the Maldives.
Over to you the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Transport.
The incumbent Minister of Transport has always been for the common man who supported him being the cricket World Cup winning captain. Do you ever visit public utilities to see for yourself?
If apartheid in Sri Lanka is a byproduct of some culture, then tackle the root cause and spare a thought for the few Sri Lankans who want to ‘live clean’ like the foreigners themselves.
C. Jude
Moratuwa
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Set up low cost ‘humps’ at unprotected rail crossing
Rail crossing tragedies are reported regularly with the latest at Thudella, Ja-ela with a death toll of four. Low cost ‘humps’ on either side of the crossing would have prevented this tragedy.
I was surprised to learn from the media that 200 railway gates with electric bell and light systems are to be installed at a cost of USD 6.4 million. At the current exchange rate, it would be Rs.5.9 million per gate with a total investment exceeding Rs. 1 billion.
It was reported on March 2, 2015 that the Railway Department had installed 20 railway gates with electric alarm bells at a cost of Rs. 10 million per gate. The Transport Ministry had recommended a proposal by the previous Government in May 2014 to install 200 similar rail gates with bell and light systems at a much lower figure of Rs. 4.15 million (Still high in our view) in collaboration with the Moratuwa University and a private firm.
The present move is a resurrection of the latter proposal being considered at a higher exchange rate for the Dollar. We are at a loss to understand why such extravagant and ineffective technical solutions eating into our meagre Forex reserves and billions of tax payers’ monies are recommended at a time when our deeply indebted country is afflicted with debt payment and balance of payment problems.
In the wake of a series of accidents at railway gates, the writer proposed a low cost viable alternative for rail-gates which was first published in Sinhala and English press in 2013, followed by several reminders.
The electric rail-gates are also prone to frequent breakdowns due to rainy weather and excessive heat, in addition to high maintenance costs. Besides, as proved in the Wanawasala, Batuwatte and Hideniya tragedies, electric bell and light systems have become ineffective on exposure to elements. As a viable low-cost alternative to this high cost rail gate systems, I proposed to install concrete speed-breakers (humps) at a safe distance (five - seven metres) ahead of each crossing on both sides of the road. A visible red coloured danger signal with appropriate lettering should be painted on the face of the hump to be visible even during the night.
The forced slow-down or stoppage of the vehicles due to the ‘hump’ will enable motorists to see the danger signal and exercise caution before crossing the railway track. Sri Lankan motorists are responsive to ‘speed breakers’, and we have not come across any major accidents caused by them.
To make this preventive measure more effective, I have proposed the following steps.
1) Display the usual traffic signal used to indicate a railway crossing in a prominent manner (luminous) to attract the attention of drivers.
2) Clear the vicinity of the railway crossings of trees and shrubs to improve the sight of an approaching train.
3) Instruct railway engine drivers by a circular to toot the engine horns to attract the attention of those passing the railway track at a railway crossing.
Though belated, the Railway Department started responding to my proposal. By May 2017, they were reported to have installed 111 ‘humps’.
Bernard Fernando,|
Moratuwa.
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Formula for school van, trishaw fares, a long-felt need
School vans and trishaws provide a vital service to the public. They come handy when transporting children to school. However, many school van and trishaw operators fix fares and fleece the hapless commuters who are left to grin and bear.
The government has passed on the benefit of the world fuel price drop to consumers since last October. However, many school van and trishaw operators have refused to pass on the benefit to their users. The three-wheeler fare for the first kilometre remains the same, irrespective of the distance of the travel. Van operators have stuck to their guns that fares cannot be revised down due to high cost of vehicle maintenance.
However, when there is an upward revision in fuel prices, they are the first to jack up fares.
It is mainly the middle income earners who have no access to private transportation that have to face the brunt.
Regulation of school vans and trishaws and a formula for fares is long overdue.
Concerned reader.