http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2268:park-land-doled-out-for-bananas-in-our-banana-republic&catid=35:news-features&Itemid=37

The person who informed me of this issue sent me this message as well (which I followed and have a report key for follow up on 26 Aug):

“We can lodge a report with DOLE, and maybe if there are sufficient numbers protesting, they may stop it themselves. It’s easy to do. Call their Integrity Hotline on 2430430 (local call) wait for the prompt and then call 888-236-7527 [This is a toll free number]. You get a very polite young person, with whom you can then lodge a complaint. I merely wanted DOLE to verify the report. You are asked to create a passcode, and they give you a report key – both numbers are necessary for you to follow up the report with another call in 2-3 days time. Worth doing. It will only take a few minutes of your time.

For all those not in Sri Lanka have local numbers you can dial as well. For these you will have to go to http://www.Doleintegrity.com or see the attached

Please tell your friends…”

It certainly is sad to see trees being cut down. How we blame the sudhas for cutting down our forests to plant tea and rubber! But think of our country without the income and employment we gained / gain from tea and rubber….. the railways, roads, free education, free health, restoration of ancient tanks and irrigation…. and so on and on. Where would I be if that “terrible destruction” did not happen? Would I have this computer and ability to use this? Would we have been happier in our villages as the villagers of today who are trying to get out of them? At least we would not be complaining about the tree-lined city of Colombo.

Think again

Yapa:
it’s very nice for us to keep telling everyone to ‘think positive’ or say ‘dont be soo negative’ or ‘look at the silver lining..’ – it’s this sort of crap that allows the largely corrupt cronies rob us and our children’s generation of any sort of decent future.

As a sinhalese, i am pretty sure that very few of us will ever get on the road and get beaten or shot at like what has happened in Tunis, Egypt or now in syria – these morons in parliament know this too well. and hence they get away with all of this crap!

Often i think to me self how ashamed of this I ought to be – just penning something on a blog/website is perhaps .1% of what we really could/should do to have any sort of impact. However, sanity and rationale must prevail – most have families who would rather not have us taken away in pink vans. Which only goes to show how brave guys like lasantha and others who’ve paid the ultimate price really are!
In the case of the great General, you could say ‘what goes around, comes around’ but for lasantha – there was really none of that.

[Edited out.]

yapa, pls see comment at the bottom – addressed to yapa.

Dear Yapa,

Again I would like to alert you to the saying ‘kohede yanne? malle pol’.

No one here is expressing any liking or disliking for Na trees: that is NOT what the article is about!

The matter under discussion is about the stupidity of cutting down some beatiful well established willow trees in order to pander to the sadly misled Sinhala-Buddhists.

I too think the Na tree is a really nice tree and would fully support planting them in suitable places, without to destroy other nice trees.

There is an analogy about the communal problems of Lanka:
Why do the Sinhala-Buddhist think that they need to destroy and hurt the Tamils for them [the Sinhala-Buddhists] to come up?

“I agree Na is a better tree than a weeping willow. And it is only second in veneration to the Bo tree for the buddhists as…..”

I don’t think Na tree was that much venerated to Buddhists, I think Buddhists consider “Nuga” tree a bit venerated next to Bo tree. As a Buddhist even I didn’t have the knowledge that Maithree Buddha is supposed to be enlightened under a Na tree. I think Na tree became a bit prominent among Sri Lankans after it was chosen as the National Tree, not because of the so called alleged affiliation to Buddhism. On the other hand I don’t think there was a religious motive behind the alleged planting campaign of Na trees along the independence avenue, rather than a nationalistic move(if any).

Free imaginations, speculations and fantasizing are good instruments that have produced marvelous things to the world. We may not have Shakespeare if those instruments were not properly utilized by the individual hiding behind that name. Einstein’s “Theory of Relativity” was a result of his unimaginable imaginations and his speculations.

However, it should be noted that they are not good instruments for every occasion, they may be counter productive and harmful. Not only the instrument is important, the individual who handles it is important as well. Otherwise, it will not be different from giving a razor blade to a monkey, it cuts and get cut everywhere and everything.

Thanks!

Dear PitastharaPuthraya;

“Therefore, we hope that at least within 20 years time we would be able to see Independece Av planked by Na trees with tender red leaves dancing in the wind reminding us of ‘pouting red lips of young women’. Only negative thing is we would be too old to appreciate the beauty of that.”

Nothing like trying. Let’s keep on trying.

Thanks!

I agree Na is a better tree than a weeping willow. And it is only second in veneration to the Bo tree for the buddhists as , according to the Buddhist belief, the next buddha, Maitriya Bodhisatva’ would attain enlightment under a Na tree.

I also agree that we always look at everything with suspicion.

Therefore, we hope that at least within 20 years time we would be able to see Independece Av planked by Na trees with tender red leaves dancing in the wind reminding us of ‘pouting red lips of young women’. Only negative thing is we would be too old to appreciate the beauty of that.

Dear sambar;

I am not sure about what you say. I haven’t heard of any such restriction to use Na trees from the side of Buddhists. I know Bo trees aren’t used by Buddhists and it is not usable as timber as well.

Even without the use of timber Na tree is still better than Willow trees. It gives a better shelter and gives beautiful flowers to decorate the environment. Na dalu(tender leaves) are similar to the lips of ladies, poets say, isn’t this a good reason for you to change your attitude and love Na trees?

[Edited out.]
Thanks