News
National Blood Transfusion Service on lookout for new refrigerator system
Director of the National Blood Transfusion Service Dr. Lakshman Edirisinghe recently expressed concerns about the high maintenance costs associated with the existing blood bank refrigerators, which are over 15 years old.
Speaking to the media in Colombo, Dr. Edirisinghe said that despite this issue, the National Blood Transfusion Service has ample storage capacity to meet the demand for blood.The storage of blood components relies on various equipment, including blood refrigerators, plasma freezers, and platelet agitators. While they have sufficient ultra-low temperature (ULT) refrigerators that were previously used for storing COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, the ULT freezers responsible for storing blood units at -20°C and -40°C are more than 15 years old.
Although some of these freezers, running for over 20 years, are still in good working condition, managing service agreements for such old freezer equipment across the 109 blood banks in the country has become challenging, he said.
The absence of service agreements forces the National Blood Transfusion Service to bear significant maintenance costs for the ULT freezers. Additionally, due to the economic downturn, the importation of various items, including spare parts for the ULT freezers, has been banned.
As a result, Dr. Edirisinghe emphasized the need for a new freezer system, acknowledging the challenges associated with acquiring one. However, the Treasury has provided the necessary funds to address this issue, and the National Blood Transfusion Service is currently preparing a proposal to request a new freezer system to meet future requirements.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the Prime Minister to recruit 2,284 to the government service as per the recommendations of the ‘Committee appointed to review the recruitment process of the Government Service at its meeting held on 14.11.2025.
1. Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education 196
2. Ministry of Health and Mass Media 480
3. Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and
Local Governments 04
4. Ministry of Finance, Policy Planning and Economic
Development 19
5. Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development 778
6. Ministry of Justice and National Integration 222
7. Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development 107
8. Ministry of Defense 73
9. Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources 20
10. Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs 21
11. Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development 36
12. Ministry of Buddha Shasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
04
13. Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Facilities 02
14. Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation 74
15. Western Provincial Council 230
16. Uva Provincial Council 08
17. North Western Provincial Council 08
18. Finance Commission 02
Latest News
Cabinet green light to obtain a grant from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund for post – disaster relief and rehabilitation activities
On a request made by the government of Sri Lanka, the Asian Development Bank has given its concurrence to provide a grant of United States dollars 3 million under Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund.
It is expected to supply materials required for providing essential life security services for the communities affected, from the said grant.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President as the Minister of Finance, Plan Implementation and Economic Development to enter into the relevant agreements with the Asian Development Bank to obtain the said grant.
Business
Cabinet approves establishment of two 50 MW wind power stations in Mullikulum, Mannar region
Adhering to the broad plan of the Government to reach the objective of accomplishing 70% of the country’s electricity supply from renewable energy sources by the year 2030, the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted on 10.02.2025 to invite requests for resolutions from interested developers of the private sector in order to implement the Mullikulum Wind Power – 100 Mega Watts (two (02) wind power stations of
50 Mega Watts each) on the basis of construction, ownership and execution with a monitoring period of 20 years.
Accordingly, requests for proposals have been called to implement the relevant project by adhering to the international competitive bidding methodology, and seven (7) prospective project proposals were submitted.
Evaluating the said proposals, based on the recommendations submitted by the negotiation committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Power to award the contracts of establishing the two (02) 50 Mega Watts Wind
Power Stations to Consortium of Vidullanka PLC & David Pieris Motor Company (Lanka) Limited and WindForce PLC.
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