I note with trepidation that a substantial increase in bus fares is expected on Valentines Day 2013, to take account of a delayed price hike due to fuel price increases and other increases in running costs, but most especially the hike by the Govt. departments and authorities, in the price of a bus transfer, a route permit, and the charge ...
still does NOT cause sufficient outrage amongst a very pliant populace: Do they need their heads examined?Thus the fact that Mahinda Rajapakse even dares to make asinine statements, and worse reported by a media incapable of analyzing the psychological game he is attempting, and enlightening the populace to ironies of his statements, adds to the frustration that sane people ...
Fishermen and their families in Chilaw protested (non political) a few days ago against price increases of 50% on Kerosene and 37% on Diesel. They were vociferous but unarmed and in the ensuing engagement with the police and various units of the armed forces, Antony Fernando was shot in the head in COLD BLOOD along with others, and Antony died ...
The recently concluded census came out with one surprise (not to me) which was that the estimate of people in Sri Lanka was found to be 20.3M as opposed to the estimated 20.9M. The report using these figures concluded that the growth rate in the population has therefore dropped to 0.7% from a figure of 1.1% . I beg ...
We held a daylong seminar yesterday for 50 University students from campuses all around the country, to take upon themselves the political organization in their particular University, so that they can give a clear message to new members of where they stand vis a vis issues of importance to them, as well as to give them a general education on ...
There is a relatively recently created area in Horowapothana (3,000 Hectares, which was overseen by the then Wildlife Minister, SM Chandrasena, the brother of the NCP Chief Minister in the MR Government time, SM Ranjith.It was built at a very high cost, to retain the post dangerous elephants captured and brought to this place from all parts of the Country. ...
The David Cameron and the Prince Charles Show – all in 48hours The show is over and I am not one for sour grapes, as I was not invited to the opening ceremony which was shocking as far as the number of empty seats were concerned, about 400, but it was a made for TV tamasha, that would have excited ...
In Sri Lanka’s desperation for a solution to its power crisis, The Mahinda Rajapakse Government fast forwarded Norochchalai and granted the contract to a Chinese outfit, even though the CEB Engineers opposed the technology as being both obsolete and inefficient in terms of conversion ratios from use to power.It has now emerged by an opposition legislator, that the contractor was ...
It was interesting and purely coincidental that my previous blog entry discussed leadership training as the first event yesterday was just that topic being implemented at a local school and I was fortunate in talking to two Principals.I was astounded to find out that there are a huge number of vacancies in the school district that remain unfilled due to ...
The private sector is at its wits end. They have pressure to complete their year-end 31st March, or quarter end in a satisfactory mode. However everything emanating from the Public Sector is moribund, and impotent. So the business confidence will gradually erode, when business is not supported or listened to.The recent elections, have left a bitter taste in the mouths ...
I had a comment on my Facebook by a friend who noted that as part of our political activities, wherever we go there is some sort of religious connotation. He lives in America, and there is STRICT separation of Church and State there, and there is NO religious involvement in everyday politics. There are a few notable exceptions such as ...
The use of Merit in so far as it means the best person for the job, is a distant dream in public service and in the political arena. In the private sector, it is increasingly seen as a prerequisite for performance, as otherwise the organization may perish. This influence comes mainly from multinationals that have a very competitive system, where ...
He was a Civil Servant, who was also a GA for Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa being junior to my Grand Father (CBP Perera who was a specialist in land development) and was a later an MP for Polonnaruwa from 1952 through to 1970. He was Minister of Land development, then Agriculture, Lands, Irrigation and Power from 1956 through to 1970(at which ...
The environmental website mongabay.com (http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1121-hance_dole_abandons.html) reports that Dole who along with a Sri Lankan company Letsgrow Ltd cleared 12,0000 acres of dense forest bordering the Somawathiya National Park, has now abandoned the project. That is all very well, and the Environmental Foundation Ltd, takes credit for this pointing out using Google Earth, coordinates, and park boundaries that there was incursion ...
The Minister of National Heritage said that huge sums are required to preserve and maintain 275,000 sites of archeological interest, when only a day earlier in my blog I had estimated it to be 100K. The problem is that not even 50,000 of these sites are actually properly recorded in a way that it is indexed and can be assured ...
The Government appears to be stalling on the demand by the FUTA for significant pay increases, with the main reason being that if they are given a raise the rest of thee public service will demand equivalent raises.One set of people I believe are grossly underpaid are the Judges. The lawyers on the other hand are relatively overcompensated as they ...
The goings on a small village never seems to amaze me, and each time I come here, I am presented with new information, that has convinced me that there is little cohesiveness and spirit left in villages in Sri Lanka. The same disease that afflicts cities has come to the villages. Its called greed and seizing the moment, no matter ...
In this morning’s (Sunday, June 24th 2012) Editorials of all the English Language newspapers, (except the Govt. mouthpiece Observer) the tragedy of the Katuwana Killings is highlighted and referred to and questions at the same breath arise as to the freedom with which the implicated ‘Amare’ seems to have within Hambantota District.The Observer for its part pooh poohed crime stating ...
In an earlier blog entry, I agreed with the new regulations, (I am not sure if it has been inacted) that said that only three individuals can go at the back) This was because it was just plain unsafe for more to travel, especially if it upsets the equilibrium of this quite unstable mode of transport, and reflected by the ...
The Education Minister in a statement yesterday stated that the pass rate from O levels will increase from 40% in 2001 to 80% in 2016. To the uninitiated this sounds like a wonderful goal. To a realist they can see right through mischievous words of a disingenuous politician, trying to get credit for something he has not done. Remember it ...
