Opinion
Garbage attracted to garbage
The Island editorial (28/12) titled ‘Muck, bucks and impunity’ made me sad and even angry. Sad because this little land of ours cannot take it anymore. It is being battered from all sides: deforestation, serene beaches are turned into hotels, rivers are losing their precious sand, wildlife is threatened by encroachments into their natural habitats for the sake of development, and garbage and rubbish is dumped almost everywhere with absolutely no concern for the environment and, on and on.
How can a human being stoop so low: importing foreign waste and dumping it in his country? Now, we all know who (or the majority of them) can be behind these ugly deals, don’t we, anyway?
The previous government tried to make our country Singapore’s and other foreign garbage-dumping ground, with its Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (Free Trade – my foot. It should have been named ‘Free Garbage – Trade Agreement!). Thanks to the uproar and the vehement protests from many a quarter, including newspapers, social media and other organisations, it had to be withdrawn.
Then came those containers all the way from the UK, numbering more than 200. And then they were kept sitting, where they finally settled and, while swarms of flies were having a field day around them, questions were being asked, probes and inquiries were being made as to who, how and why. Finally, the UK agreed to take them back, following a series of legal scuffles. However, the company that was responsible for bringing in those container loads of garbage (some even said to have contained hospital waste) is yet to face legal action from the relevant authorities.
And now it is from the west to the east, of Europe, which is Ukraine. A shipment of more than 20 containerised cargo has arrived here, supposedly containing coriander seeds. And guess what, the cargo, while crossing the high seas, seemed to have undergone a magical transformation, from coriander seeds to agricultural waste. Now this kind of wonder can only happen in this ‘Land like no other’, where even the recognised ‘world wonders’ can get pushed into less prominence in comparison.
One of the local companies involved claims it has been cheated. I sincerely hope the relevant authorities will launch a full investigation as the whole affair stinks no end. Furthermore, this may be just one caught amongst many that could have already slipped past the customs and other border controls, and may have even found their dumping grounds, already.
Lastly, let the garbage lay where it is in those foreign lands. Don’t bring it here. In fact, don’t we already have enough of both; living (around the Oya, in particular) and dead, which is dumped and scattered all over the country?
And the guilty (if found?) must not be allowed to go scot-free or with just a rap on the knuckles!
LAKSIRI WARNAKULA
On July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 departed Denver, Colorado for Chicago, Illinois. The forecast weather was fine. Unfortunately, engine no. 2 – the middle engine in the tail of the three-engined McDonnell Douglas DC 10 – suffered an explosive failure of the fan disk, resulting in all three hydraulic system lines to the aircraft’s control surfaces being severed. This rendered the DC-10 uncontrollable except by the highly unorthodox use of differential thrust on the remaining two serviceable engines mounted on the wings.
Consequently, the aircraft was forced to divert to Sioux City, Iowa to attempt an emergency crash landing. But the crew lost control at the last moment and the airplane crashed. Out of a total of 296 passengers and crew, 185 survived.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) declared after an investigation that besides the skill of the operating crew, one significant factor in the survival rate was that hospitals in proximity to the airport were experiencing a change of shifts and therefore able to co-opt the outgoing and incoming shift workers to take over the additional workload of attending to crash victims.
One wonders what would have happened if an overflying aircraft diverted to MRIA-Mattala, BIA-Colombo, Colombo International Airport Ratmalana (CIAR) or Palaly Airport, KKS during the doctors’ strike in the 24 hours starting March 12, 2025? Would the authorities have been able to cope? International airlines (over a hundred a day) are paying in dollars to overfly and file Sri Lankan airports as en route alternates (diversion airports).
Doctors in hospitals in the vicinity of the above-named international airports cannot be allowed to go on strike, and their services deemed essential. Even scheduled flights to those airports could be involved in an accident, with injured passengers at risk of not receiving prompt medical attention.
The civil aviation regulator in this country seems to be sitting fat, dumb, and happy, as we say in aviation.
Guwan Seeya
Plans to resurrect the Nanu Oya – Nuwara Eliya rail track are welcome. The magnificent views from the train have been described by H W Cave in his book The Ceylon Government Railway (1910):
‘The pass by which Nuwara Eliya is reached is one of the most exquisite things in Ceylon. In traversing its length, the line makes a further ascent of one thousand feet in six miles. The curves and windings necessary to accomplish this are the most intricate on the whole railway and frequently have a radius of only eighty feet. On the right side of the deep mountain gorge we ascend amongst the tea bushes of the Edinburgh estate, and at length emerge upon a road, which the line shares with the cart traffic for about a mile. In the depths of the defile flows the Nanuoya river, foaming amongst huge boulders of rock that have descended from the sides of the mountains, and bordered by tree ferns, innumerable and brilliant trees of the primeval forest which clothe the face of the heights. In this land of no seasons their stages of growth are denoted by the varying tints of scarlet, gold, crimson, sallow green, and most strikingly of all, a rich claret colour, the chief glory of the Keena tree’.
However, as in colonial times, the railway should be available for both tourists and locals so that splendid vista can be enjoyed by all.
Dr R P Fernando
Epsom,
UK
If the people of this country were asked whether they want elections to the local government, majority of them would say no! How many years have elapsed since the local councils became defunct? And did not the country function without these councils that were labelled as ‘white elephants’?
If the present government’s wish is to do the will of the people, they should reconsider having local government elections. This way the government will not only save a considerable amount of money on holding elections, but also save even a greater amount by not having to maintain these local councils, which have become a bane on the country’s economy.
One would hope that the country will be able to get rid of these local councils and revert back to the days of having competent Government Agents and a team of dedicated government officials been tasked with the responsibility of attending to the needs of the people in those areas.
M. Joseph A. Nihal Perera
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