Govt. to address translation errors on official notices

Sri Lanka’s government has apologised for errors in translating official notices and documents into the language of the minority Tamil community, foreign media reported.

A number of mistakes have been highlighted recently in local media.

Minister for National Languages and Social Integration, Vasudeva Nanayakara, told BBC Tamil that the mistakes had been made by people not fluent in Tamil.

“Sometimes, also translations into Sinhala in mainly Tamil areas are wrong, as there are not enough Tamil people in those areas fluent in Sinhala,” he added.

Some Tamils say it is quite common to find mistakes in their language.

“Tamils find language errors in name boards on buses, streets and many government official buildings,” says a local Tamil rights activist, S Balakrishnan.

They also allege that Tamils find it difficult when visiting government offices as many officials can’t speak Tamil fluently.

Two years ago, the government started a 10-year plan to implement what it describes as a trilingual policy.

It says the aim is to give English official status alongside Sinhala and Tamil, both of which are now official languages under the constitution.

The government will print name boards in all three languages in all government offices throughout the country, according to Minister Vasudeva Nanayakara.

The BBC also reported that the minister called on people to come forward of their own accord with examples of mistakes in Tamil.

But Tamil activists called on the minister to appoint a group to check for mistakes so they could be corrected immediately. (BBC)