News
Vajira bashes govt.handling of pandemic
By Piyasena Dissanayake
People pay with their lives for the blunders committed by the government, which mismanaged the pandemic response measures, the UNP said yesterday.
Addressing the media at UNP Headquarters Sirikotha, UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena said that the government failed in managing the COVID-19 prevention owing to its shortsighted policies.
“Just take a look at the number of Secretaries appointed to the Ministry of Health since the commencement of the pandemic. The government did nothing but changed the officials. Nothing meaningful was done to prevent the crisis. Now people die in their hundreds. Our leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that a separate committee should be appointed under the guidance of the WHO to manage the pandemic. Every other country in the world has such mechanisms; only Sri Lanka does not have one. Instead, we have a committee to attend to COVID-19 related matters but it has no powers. They have no legal powers. As per the provisions of the Constitution, it is the Cabinet that has the powers to run the country and those powers cannot be transferred to another body. At the outbreak of this crisis, our leader warned that the government should get its act together and take preventive measures. The government did not listen to his advice but laughed at him. The government got health workers to disinfect public places. That measure was nothing but a media show. That disinfection show is now over. Then they did the stupidest thing to do when there were reports of COVID-19 infected people. The government took them from their homes and sent them to distant places such as Kandakadu and spent millions of rupees to keep them there. That too did not work.
“The problem with this government is that it is not ready to listen to the experts. The experts called for the shutting down of the airport before the virus came into the country. The government did not listen. Then there was a call for placing orders to purchase the vaccine on time, but the government did not listen. Thereafter, the experts again urged the government to shut down the country in view of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, but that call was not heeded. Now the experts are calling for an immediate lockdown without letting this crisis turn worse.”
The Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake stated that the government has taken a policy decision to continue, without interruption, “School Nutrition Programme’’ aimed at reducing anemia among schoolchildren, which is being implemented with the assistance of the World Food Programme.
He made these remarks on Wednesday (23), during a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat with representatives from relevant Ministries and government institutions involved in the programme, along with officials from the World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation.
The school meal programme, aligned with the government’s initiative to provide nutritious lunch to primary school students in districts identified as having high levels of malnutrition, specifically targets the reduction of iron deficiency among schoolchildren. The initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Provincial Councils, the Food Promotion Board and the Partnership Secretariat for the World Food Programme Cooperation. The government has allocated Rs. 32 billion for this programme for the current year.
A pilot project is currently being implemented in four selected districts. Based on a formal health and nutrition study assessing the outcomes of this pilot project, there are plans to expand the programme island-wide. The study aims to determine the extent to which iron deficiency among schoolchildren can be reduced through this initiative.
As part of the programme, fortified rice enriched with iron and folic acid will be included in the school meals to specifically address anemia among students.
The World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gateway Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation have pledged their continued support for this effort.
Present at the occasion were Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media Dr. Anil Jasinghe, and Secretary to the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Malarmathy Gangatharan, along with other government officials and representatives from partner organizations.
[PMD]
Latest News
Heat index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. 23 April 2025, valid for 24 April 2025
The public are warned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated. Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.
Retired SSP Shani Abeysekera, serving the Police Department again, has been appointed to the committee headed by Senior DIG Asanka Karawita, tasked with studying the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) report on the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage.
The other members of the team are DIG, CID, Director, CID and Director Terrorism Investigation Division (TID)
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila yesterday said that Abeysekera had been one of the law enforcement officers whose conduct raised eyebrows over the years as regards the failure on the part of the CID to thwart the Easter Sunday attacks.
The National Police Commission approved the reappointment of SSP Abeysekera on contractual basis for one year, with effect from 10 Oct., 2024.
Abeysekera backed Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s presidential election campaign as a member of the retired police collective.
“School Nutrition Programme’’to continue, without interruption
Heat index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
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