News
‘Docs jumping vaccine queue’: Kumudesh fires another salvo
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Not all doctors face a significant threat of being exposed to SARS-COV-2, President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS,) Ravi Kumudesh said yesterday.
Commenting on GMOA’s insistence that their family members need to be given a second dose of AstraZeneca because they too are exposed to danger, Kumudesh said that everyone who had a high risk of being exposed to the virus needed to be inoculated.
“Not all health staff members face the same threat. For example those who work in COVID19 wards or PCR labs need to be vaccinated and their families also need to be vaccinated. Everyone who works in such facilities, from doctors to cleaners, face risks, but what greater risk does a doctor who is not involved in the process have?”
The CMLS President said that if the parents of all doctors were a high risk category, it should have been notified by the ministry from the beginning. “GMOA now states that there are 13,000 family members of doctors in the Western province and that they all need to be given the second jab.”
“How did all of these people get the first vaccine? We have urged the President to look into this. According to the Ministry guidelines, we have to account for even a Paracetamol that we issue, but now not only does the Health Ministry openly admit that something fraudulent has taken place,” he said.
On Monday some relatives of doctors were vaccinated at a doctors’ quarters by people in civilian clothing, the CMLS head said. “This is against the accepted norms of vaccination as there were no officers to officially keep a tab on what’s going on”.
The Colombo Stock Exchange (GL 12) has contributed LKR 25 million to the Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund.
The cheque was handed over to the Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake by the Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Dimuthu Abeyesekera, the Chief Executive Officer Rajeeva Bandaranaike and Senior Vice Chairman Kusal Nissanka at the Presidential Secretariat.
News
Karu argues against scrapping MPs’ pension as many less fortunate members entered Parliament after ’56
Former Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya has written to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressing concerns over the proposed abolition of MPs’ pensions.The letter was sent in his capacity as Patron of the Former Parliamentarians’ Caucus.
In his letter, Jayasuriya noted that at the time of Sri Lanka’s independence, political participation was largely limited to an educated, affluent land-owning elite. However, he said a significant social transformation took place after 1956, enabling ordinary citizens to enter politics.
He warned that under current conditions, removing parliamentary pensions would effectively confine politics to the wealthy, business interests, individuals engaged in illicit income-generating activities, and well-funded political parties. Such a move, he said, would discourage honest social workers and individuals of modest means from entering public life.
Jayasuriya also pointed out that while a small number of former MPs, including himself, use their pensions for social and charitable purposes, the majority rely on the pension as a primary source of income.
He urged the President to give due consideration to the matter and take appropriate action, particularly as the government prepares to draft a new constitution.The Bill seeking to abolish pensions for Members of Parliament was presented to Parliament on 07 January by Minister of Justice and National Integration Dr. Harshana Nanayakkara.
Five suspects, including former Minister Johnston Fernando and his two sons, who were arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), were further remanded until 30 January by the Wattala Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The former Minister’s , sons Johan Fernando and Jerome Kenneth Fernando, and two others, were arrested in connection with the alleged misuse of a Sathosa vehicle during Fernando’s tenure as Minister.
Investigations are currently underway into the alleged misuse of state property, including a lorry belonging to Lanka Sathosa, which reportedly caused a significant financial loss to the state.
In connection with the same incident, Indika Ratnamalala, who served as the Transport Manager of Sathosa during
Fernando’s tenure as Minister of Co-operatives and Internal Trade, was arrested on 04 January.
After being produced before the Wattala Magistrate’s Court, he was ordered to be remanded in custody until 09 January.The former Sathosa Transport Manager was remanded on charges of falsifying documents.
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