‘High achievers cannot co-exist amidst tail waggers and tale-carriers’ – PSUNU leader

By Suresh Perera

The unceremonious exit of Sri Lanka’s most senior medical administrator just three months after his appointment as Secretary to the State Ministry of Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID Prevention, has raised more questions than answers, especially at a time the country is in the throes of a raging deadly virus.

The sudden removal of Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, a medical specialist with a highly acclaimed academic background, has triggered speculation that the marching orders came after, what was described as “preferential treatment” accorded to a former national cricket captain to receive the Covid-19 jab.

The assertion seems to have gained currency, going by social media reports doing the rounds, but if true, it’s a “from the sublime to the ridiculous”

scenario as VIP lists to administer the vaccine on a priority is an open secret, health officials said.

Colombo’s Mayor Rosy Senanayake was also accused of forwarding a list of 700 plus names for preferential treatment for the jab. The well tabulated list became the talking point after it was posted on social media platforms. However, the Mayor vehemently denied prioritizing any VIPs for the vaccine, saying it’s a “bid to vilify her”.

While many VIPs and their relatives received the jab without much hassle, health officials said that it was to the credit of Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara that his wife Wasanthi stood in the queue for almost two hours at an inoculation centre in Colombo.

She politely declined a request to be given the vaccine on a priority basis and stood in the queue for her turn”, they said.

“Eminent medical professionals who have proved their mettle are being tossed around and posted to institutions, which are totally irrelevant to their knowledge and expertise”, says Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, president of the Public Service United Nurses Union (PSUNU).

What’s happening in the government health sector is beyond sense and logic. Everything has gone haywire, he complained.

Can anybody justify moving out an accomplished medical specialist cum the country’s senior most medical administrator to an institution where they make poonac”, the prelate asked, referring to Dr. de Silva’s transfer as Secretary to State Ministry of Backward Rural Areas Development & Promotion of Animal Husbandry and Minor Economic Crop Cultivation.

The crux of the matter here is not so much about administering a vaccine to a cricketer, but the incompetence of the health secretary on whose watch the whole health sector has plunged to a new low, he asserted.

“It is a clear cut case of incapable officials feeling uneasy and uncomfortable when there are highly accomplished and competent people in their midst”, he remarked.

The initial faux pas was the transfer of eminent Consultant Surgeon, Dr. Anil Jasinghe, who spearheaded the first Covid-19 wave as Director-General of Health Services, the PSUNU leader recalled.

“Dr. Jasinghe earned plaudits for effectively tackling the initial Corona outbreak and instead of being honored for a job well done, he ended up in the Environment Ministry, an alien, non-medical institution”, he noted.

Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, who coordinated the concerted effort against Covid-19 as Secretary of the State Ministry in charge of the specific subject, was paid with the same coin. He has now been moved out to supervise animal husbandry, the prelate continued.

Health officials said that Dr. de Silva played a pivotal role in coordinating the import of Covid-19 vaccines to Sri Lanka and put together the inoculation drive.

As a top medical professional, he knew what he was doing unlike some officials in the hierarchy who are groping in the dark, they said. “It appears that high achievers cannot co-exist amidst tail waggers and tale-carriers”.

Dr. de Silva served as the Deputy Director-General (Medical Services) prior to his appointment as Secretary to the State Ministry in charge of Covid prevention. (Also see GMOF statement on Page 3)