Not convincing

This refers to the news “Cosmic leaves passengers high and dry” published in THT on July 23. I found the clarification offered by Lawrence KC Liew, the general manager of marketing division of Cosmic Airlines, unsatisfactory. He cannot escape by saying that Cosmic is a budget airline and hence not responsible for providing its passengers with food and

accommodation if the flights are cancelled. After all, isn’t it the fault of the concerned airlines if its aircraft experiences technical problems? And is Liew aware that there are some cheaper airlines than Cosmic flying in the Nepali skies? How can he term his airline a ‘budget airline,’ then?

If problems like this which directly affect tourism are not taken seriously, how can our airlines expect to attract more tourists, especially from India? Moreover, the government is itself

responsible for some of the problems. For example, the tourists, including those from the SAARC countries, are charged Rs. 500 on top of the airport tax of over Rs. 700. How can such discrepancies be justified? Secondly, private cars are not allowed in the airport premises

to welcome the guests. Even the security personnel who prevent the vehicles from entering

airport can offer no convincing reasons for this.

S Narayan, Baluwatar

Informative

Thanks to THT for the news ‘Rinpoche’s sacred crowning tomorrow’ published on July 20, we were able to attend the crowning ceremony of Karma Chagme Rinpoche at the Sherpa Monastery. Most of us were there only because of the news about the ceremony in THT. Otherwise, we would never have known. The Federation of All Nepal Buddhist Association also did well to organise this ceremony.  

Manu Bhandari, Kathmandu

Traffic lights

The traffic lights in the capital are no good. I do my best to assist the traffic police by obeying all traffic rules. Even when others run across the road breaching red lights, I dutifully wait for the light to turn green. But apparently, the government is not serious about implementing the rules. One day, at a busy intersection in Putalisadak, I was waiting for the light to turn green. I kept on waiting but the colour of the light never changed. Instead, people started laughing at me as everybody else was nonchalantly crossing the road. Another day I discovered that the newly installed lights in another crossing in Putalisadak was not working. Are the traffic police trying to play games with the people?

Amrita Khadka, Dillibazzar

Child labour

The news “59,000 kids toil in brick kilns” on July 23 in THT was very sad. These children have to work in dangerous work environs and are in constant risk of contracting life-threatening diseases like cancer and tuberculosis. It is indeed heart wrenching to see these kids not only being employed illegally, but being exploited by the greedy kiln-owners and to a lesser extent, by their own parents. Don’t these kiln operators have any conscience? How can they make children less than ten years old work tirelessly for virtually nothing? Why don’t they instead ensure that all children who come to their kilns are provided with proper education in return for their labour?

Abhay Sharma, Eekantakuna