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.”
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya met with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, at Temple Tress on the 17th of February
Dr. Georgieva, commended the Government’s efforts in stabilizing the country’s economy and in managing recent economic and natural shocks. She noted that Cyclone Ditwah had caused severe impacts, especially on economically vulnerable communities, underscoring the importance of targeted support and resilience-building measures.
The Prime Minister expressed appreciation for the IMF’s continued support to Sri Lanka, particularly in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah. The PM further emphasized that real economic recovery and development must directly benefit the economically vulnerable groups and ensure inclusive growth, highlighting the need for Sri Lanka to attract quality and sustainable investments, particularly in the tourism sector.
The importance of reforming the education system to focus not only on knowledge acquisition but also on skills development and employability was also discussed
The meeting was attended by the Chief of Staff of the IMF Managing Director Andreas Bauer, Director, Asia and Pacific Department, Dr. Krishna Srinivasan Division Chief (Strategic Communications), Communications Department, Pierre Mejlak Resident Representative for Sri Lanka Dr. Martha Woldemichael, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, and Deputy Governor Dr. C. Amarasekara, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatta.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution forwarded by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to relocate the Deniyaya Base Hospital after constructing a new hospital with a capacity of 300 beds at an estimated cost of Rupees 6,000 million.
The Southern Provincial Department of Health has acquired a plot of land in Handford estate which is approximately 03 kilometres away from the town for this purpose.
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