Wildlife officers scoff at air rifles – ‘like toy guns’
A Government minister wants air rifles issued to guards at the country’s nature reserves to cope with poachers.
Sustainable Resources and Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera has said in a memorandum to his
Placing the Business Class lounge out of bounds for SriLankan Airlines pilots has put them at loggerheads with their management.
Airline Pilots Guild of Sri Lanka ( ALPGSL) President Re n u k e Senanayake has said in a strongly worded letter to SriLankan Chairman Ajith Dias that if cost cutting in the debt ridden national carrier was the reason, it is confounding that the national carrier “sponsored a VIP hospitality suite at Lords (Cricket Grounds in London) for a few select individuals, during the recently concluded Sri Lanka Cricket tour of England.”
In addition, the APGSL chief has said that “SriLankan Airlines sponsorship of Everest expeditions and mountain bike races have left many within the Airline as well as the general public, questioning the commercial logic of extravagant spending such as this and resulting gains, if any.”
Here are highlights of Captain Senanayake’s letter to Chairman Dias:
“The fact that we are entitled for Business Class travel as per industry norms, but not for the lounge facility defies any rational thinking, especially since we have been entitled to this privilege for decades; including the period when we were under Emirates management. Coincidentally, it has colleagues that poaching has been on the rise and pointed out that the print and web media had reports on this.
The rifles, he has pointed out in the memorandum headlined “WEAPONS MADE OUT OF AIR POWER,” would ensure the protection of wild- been stated by numerous Government Officials that this period had been a profitable one, despite many internal and external controversies and disputes……
“Since the start of your tenure in leading this Company, we have had a positive outlook on your Management, despite certain key appointments being debatable and mounting criticism in general. However, this new policy proves that irrespective of the dire straits we find ourselves in, the higher Management will always, first and foremost attempt to seek-out a benefit or privilege to retain or better for themselves, whilst depriving it from deserved staff who have rightly enjoyed these few and frugal entitlements for decades. If the intent of this new policy was cost savings, it should have been implemented by example, commencing f rom yo u r s e l f as the Chairman, your Board of life. He has noted that some of the poachers have been arrested and are facing prosecution.
The move has not pleased many of the guards protecting nature reserves at the risk of their own lives. One of them who did not wish to be identified for obvious reasons said, “This will embolden the poachers further.” In almost all instances, the poachers have used shot guns. One had in fact killed a guard just months earlier. “It would be still better if they give us toy guns,” the guard said rather sarcastically.