News
SLPP ally questions order to pay back wages of Dr. Shafi
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The National Freedom Front (NFF) says the ongoing investigations into Dr. Shafi Shahabdeen’s alleged involvement in Easter Sunday attackers and nonconseual sterilisation of women in Kurunegala had been seriously weakened by the government’s controversial decision to pay him back wages.
The Constituent party of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) yesterday (20) called a special media conference at its Pitakotte party office to explain how the government had undermined multiple investigations, including one handled by the CID much to the dismay of the Easter Sunday victims and those sterilised against their wishes.
State Minister Jayantha Samaraweera flayed the Public Service Commission and the Health Ministry over the payment of back wages and reinstatement of Dr. Shahabdeen. However, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella’s Office in a statement issued on Dec 17, at the onset of the controversy, stressed that Dr. Shahabdeen hadn’t been reinstated though the Director, Kurunegala Hospital was instructed to pay his back wages.
Lawmaker Samaraweera, who represents the six-member NFF parliamentary group, said that they were quite surprised the way attempts were being made to undermine the investigations taking place at a snail’s pace. The Kalutara District MP alleged that under the current dispensation, too, investigations were being handled in a shoddy manner. According to him, the then Health Secretary Wasantha Perera following an investigation conducted by the Director, Kurunegala Hospital had sent Dr. Shahabdeen on compulsory leave, instead of initiating a proper inquiry under the PSC. MP Samaraweera claimed that Dr. Shahabdeen had been sent on compulsory leave with a view to saving him and that had happened now.
Dr. Shahabdeen was granted bail in July 2019.
State Minister Samaraweera sought an explanation from law enforcement authorities regarding Dr. Shahabdeen’s alleged involvement with Easter Sunday terror attacks mastermind Zahran Hashim. The lawmaker claimed that Dr. Shahabdeen had been investigated for giving access to an associate of Zahran Hashim Rs 440 mn. The alleged connection came to light following an arrest made after the 2019 Easter Sunday blasts, the State Minister said.
Lawmaker Samaraweera said that the CID recorded statements from 601 Kurunegala women whereas 8,000 were believed to have been sterilized over a period of time.
Responding to allegations, the Health Ministry said that the Health Services Committee of the PSC on June 11, 2019 approved that Dr. Shahabdeen be sent on compulsory leave. This was in line with recommendations made by a six-member expert committee that inquired into sterilization of Sinhala women during Dr. Shahabdeen’s tenure at the Kurunegala hospital, the health ministry spokesperson said.
The expert committee, in an interim report dated January 20, 2020 that had been submitted to the PSC recommended he be placed further on compulsory leave to enable the continuation of the investigations, the ministry spokesperson said.
In spite of Dr. Shahabdeen being granted bail and repeated requests to relevant authorities to reinstate him the Health Services Committee of the PSC on Oct 12, 2020 recommended that he be continued to be placed on compulsory leave, the spokesperson said, adding that on Oct 27, 2020, Dr. Shahabdeen requested the PSC and the Health Secretary again that he be reinstated and paid back wages, the ministry official said.
Subsequent to that intervention, the Director of the Kurunegala Hospital had been directed to pay Dr. Shahabdeen’s back wages and also sought an explanation as to why the payment was not made earlier in terms of the relevant sections of the Establishment Code. Accordingly, the Health Ministry has issued necessary instructions for the payment of back wages though Dr. Shahabdeen hadn’t been reinstated.
State Minister Samaraweera attacked the decision on the part of the health ministry to call for an explanation from Director Kurunegala Hospital in that regard. The former JVPer accused the government of illegally influencing in Dr. Shahabeen’s case at a time the administration was under fire from the Catholic Church over the ham-fisted handling of the Easter Sunday case.
The Government’s ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund, established to provide relief and support to communities affected by Cyclone Ditwah, continues to receive financial contributions on a daily basis.
Accordingly, the Containers Transport Owners Association made a financial contribution of Rs. 1.5 million, while the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers contributed Rs. 1.35 million to the Fund.
The respective cheques were formally presented to the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday (19).
The occasion was attended by W. M. S. K. Manjula, Chairman of the Containers Transport Owners Association, together with Dilip Nihal Anslem Perera and Jayantha Karunadhipathi.
Representing the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers were Deshan Rajapaksa, Samudika Perera and Devshan Rodrigo handed over the cheque.
A meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and a delegation of UNICEF representatives was held on Saturday, (December 20) at the Prime Minister’s Office.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister explained the measures taken by the Government to ensure the protection of the affected student community and to restore the damaged school system, as well as the challenges encountered in this process.
The Prime Minister stated that reopening schools located in landslide-prone areas would be extremely dangerous. Accordingly, the Government is focusing on identifying such schools and relocating them to suitable locations based on scientific assessments.
The Prime Minister further noted that financial assistance has been provided to students affected by the disaster, enabling parents to send their children back to school without an additional financial burden. Emphasizing that school is the safest place for children after their homes, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the school environment would help restore and improve students’ mental well-being
The Prime Minister also highlighted that attention has been given to several key areas, including the relocation of disaster-affected schools, restoration of school infrastructure, merging and operating certain schools jointly, facilitating teaching and learning through digital and technological strategies, and providing special transportation facilities. She emphasized that the Government is examining these issues and is committed to finding long-term solutions.
The UNICEF representatives commended the Government’s commitment and the initiatives undertaken to restore the education sector and assured their support to the Government. Both parties also discussed working together collaboratively on future initiatives.
The meeting was attended by the UNICEF representatives to Sri Lanka Emma Brigham, Lakshmi Sureshkumar, Nishantha Subash, and Yashinka Jayasinghe, along with Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Director of Education Dakshina Kasturiarachchi, Deputy Directors Kasun Gunarathne and Udara Dikkumbura.
(Prime Minister’s Media Division)
Drug controversy:
“Setting up state-of-the-art drug testing facility will cost Rs 5 billion”
Activists call for legal action against politicians, bureaucrats
Serious questions have been raised over Sri Lanka’s drug regulatory system following revelations that the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s (NMRA) quality control laboratory is not accredited by the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB), casting doubt on both the reliability of local test results and the adequacy of oversight of imported medicines.
Medical and civil rights groups warn that the issue points to a systemic regulatory failure rather than an isolated lapse, with potential political and financial consequences for the State.
Chairman of the Federation of Medical and Civil Rights Professional Associations, Specialist Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, said the controversy surrounding the Ondansetron injection, which was later found to be contaminated, had exposed deep weaknesses in drug regulation and quality assurance.
Dr. Sanjeewa said that the manufacturer had confirmed that the drug had been imported into Sri Lanka on four occasions this year, despite later being temporarily withdrawn from use. The drug was manufactured in India in November 2024 and in May and August 2025, and imported to Sri Lanka in February, July and September. On each occasion, 67,600 phials were procured.
Dr. Sanjeewa said the company had informed the NMRA that the drug was tested in Indian laboratories, prior to shipment, and passed all required quality checks. The manufacturer reportedly tested the injections against 10 parameters, including basic quality standards,
pH value, visual appearance, component composition, quantity per phial, sterility levels, presence of other substances, bacterial toxin levels and spectral variations.
According to documents submitted to the NMRA, no bacterial toxins were detected in the original samples, and the reported toxin levels were within European safety limits of less than 9.9 international units per milligram.
Dr. Sanjeewa said the credibility of local regulatory oversight had come under scrutiny, noting that the NMRA’s quality control laboratory was not SLAB-accredited. He said establishing a fully equipped, internationally accredited laboratory would cost nearly Rs. 5 billion.
He warned that the failure to invest in such a facility could have grave consequences, including continued loss of life due to substandard medicines and the inability of the State to recover large sums of public funds paid to pharmaceutical companies for defective drugs.
“If urgent steps are not taken, public money will continue to be lost and accountability will remain elusive,” Dr. Sanjeewa said.
He added that if it was ultimately confirmed that the drug did not contain bacterial toxins at the time it entered Sri Lanka, the fallout would be even more damaging, severely undermining the credibility of the country’s health system and exposing weaknesses in health administration.
Dr. Sanjeewa said public trust in the health sector had already been eroded and called for legal action against all politicians and public officials responsible for regulatory failures linked to the incident.
by Chaminda Silva ✍️
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