Citizens' Mail
First I have to remind the Salaries and Cadre Commission of still
unrectified salary anomalies of translators which was caused by the
implementation of the Public Administration Circular No 06/2006. This
matter has been completely swept under the carpet by the Salaries and
Cadre Commission for our misfortune.
I also wish to point out a very important matter that there were also
positive moves to revise the Salary Scale of translators according to
which translators were assigned the Salary Scale of II/I of the Sri
Lankan Administrative Service which unfortunately was not implemented
due to the fact that the next General Election was then round the corner
which might lead to a regime change.
It so happened that there was a regime change following of which a
fresh Salaries and Cadre Commission was established which denied us of
the said Salary Scale. If translators were assigned this higher Salary
Scale, translators would have been conveniently entitled to the
Duty-Free Vehicle Permit.
While some of the officers in the Grades which had anomalies
according to the Report of the newly established Salaries and Cadre
Commission were able to get rectified their respective Salary Anomalies,
translators were denied of that opportunity. When translators met with
the Authorities concerned to arrive at a fair decision in regard to the
same, the Authorities concerned have not paid due attention this problem
remaining still unsolved.
Although it was agreed by the former Salaries and Cadre Commission to
assign the Salary Scale of II/I of Sri Lanka Administrative Service, the
Salaries and Cadre Commission, which is presently functioning which was
appointed immediately after the abolition of the former Salaries and
Cadre Commission, turned down the proposal of the erstwhile Commission
pointing out flimsy grounds which is nothing but crass hubris, an
outcome of professional malice.
The sole argument of the Commission for denying the Translators of a
higher Salary Scale such as the one which had been proposed by the
erstwhile Commission is that translators are not engaged in
administrative functions which is a standing joke if that is the sole
criterion of a well-educated Panel to deny a higher Salary Scale to
translators.
Likewise translators should also be given an opportunity to put
forward their arguments for which translators were not provided with the
opportunity, a serious incidence that is over the fence to my mind.
According to media reports appearing from time to time in certain
newspapers, when it comes to translation works, Public Service is in
crisis due to the dearth of translators which situation indicates the
highly important role of translators in the Public Service. But the
Salaries and Cadre Commission is hell-bent on making every possible
effort to diminish the role of translators in the Public Service.
Then how come that there is an acute dearth of translators even when
Examinations are held from time to time for recruitment of translators
which alone proves the difficulty to get through the said examination.
W J B T M Fernando
The theory that non-career diplomats, 'megaphone' diplomats and
political appointees are messing up the Foreign Service has been in the
forefront of discussions during the past few years. This is after HE
Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to handpick individuals to send them as
Ambassadors to important stations. Most proponents, who support career
diplomats being appointed as Ambassadors, fail to realize one fact:
both, non-career and career diplomats have either succeeded in their
stations or were a miserable failure. The criteria, however, does not
depend on whether you are a trained career diplomat or trained in
another profession and appointed as an Ambassador chosen by the
President.
Appointing anyone to represent the President is his mandate and
choice; the constitution provides for this. From time immemorial,
diplomacy has been an important major branch of the government.
Therefore, with great satisfaction, we note the immense contribution
Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, a leading criminal lawyer in Sri Lanka, has
made as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to
Italy. As a Sri Lankan holding the Italian citizenship, living here for
the past 30 years, I had the opportunity of knowing most Ambassadors who
had been appointed to Italy, and I note a startling difference in
attitude from the time Ambassador Warnakulasuriya presented his
credentials to Italian President Napolitano.
Unlike in most European countries, the Sri Lankan community in Italy
has the privilege of watching Sri Lankan news on two important TV
channels. After work, we do not miss the opportunity of watching TV in
our own language.
One thing that really surprised me was, when most Sri Lankans were
not sure of what stand to take on terrorism, as the entire Europe was
controlled by the Tamil Diaspora, which was well entrenched in their
political and social setup, Ambassador Warnakulasuriya moved in to
change the tide.
The Tamil Diaspora was at that time moving swiftly into the
governments of the countries of their choice and were able to exert
tremendous influence on them. They were not only able to exert influence
without a single ambassador - they were also able to win the hearts and
minds of the people and the media in those countries, through which they
have been able to propagate their struggle, which was universally
accepted as a liberation struggle.
The first thing we noted of Ambassador Warnakulasuriya was his
boldness in infusing confidence in the Sri Lankan Diaspora to rally
against the LTTE.
Thereafter, one of his major achievements was to have discussions
with the Italian government and prevent a licence being issued to an
LTTE TV channel uploading from Milan. Then, there had been the arrest of
30 LTTE suspects with the help of the DIGOS and the Ministry of the
Interior, another major achievement. As a patriotic Sri Lankan, I was
enamored by his ability to prevent the false and misleading publications
which regularly appeared in the Italian newspapers.
Premasiri Perera Attorney
Reference news item in the Daily News on April 20, 2011 regarding
lightning and telecom towers, I want to know what was the findings in
the report supposed to be prepared by a Commission headed by a professor
appointed by the authorities sometime back. Danger from lightning not
only involves telecom towers but also living near High Voltage power
lines.
Apart from that ill effects of electricity involves working in
substations, using mobile phones by kids, using X-ray machines,
scanners, hair driers, fax, TV, microwave, magnet therapy, induction
cooker, photocopier, fans, electric shower, building wiring etc
irrespective of incidence of lightning discharge. The value electric
field (V/m) and magnetic field (Gauss) in our surroundings should be
monitored and if it exceed the limits remedial action to be taken.
S. Sripadmanaban, Colombo.
am a sickly septuagenarian depending on lifelong medication. My
eternal gratitude to the numerous consultants who look after me with
loving care!
My Consultant Cardiologist has been prescribing Herberser 200 mg and
Imdur 90 mg (1 1/2 of 60 mg) daily in the morning hours for well over
two decades. Since of late I found that both these drugs are not
available in local pharmacies.
My very existence depends upon these drugs which I purchase monthly
in the open market outside government hospitals. I have even tried
various Osu Sala outlets but to no avail.
Nanda Nanayakkara, Matara.
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