The two main responsible persons for sending ICUs to government hospitals in Sri Lanka are the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and the Chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC). As a politician, the Minister only formulates policies. Both the Secretary to the Ministry and the Chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation are legitimized as to what is to be done and are both accused of harassing the public as those responsible for acting in accordance with the law.
The two persons responsible for the shortage of drugs are the Secretary to the Ministry of Health General Sanjeewa Munasinghe and the Chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) Dr. Prasanna Gunasena.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Health is the highest public official in the country to protect the health system. During a discussion with the Prime Minister yesterday, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella also stated that the Ministry has not made any plans to import drugs. However, he is also the former Minister of Health and the previous Minister Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi is also responsible for it.
However, the two government officials are directly responsible and Dr. Prasanna Gunasena, the chairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), has canceled tenders on 23 occasions. We have received a large number of such files. Inventory procurement and management is explicitly stated in the Procurement Guidelines No. 49 of 2006 as well as in the Monetary Regulations. It is clear from the reports available to us that neither the Army General nor Dr. Prasanna Gunasena has acted in accordance with them.
In that sense, both of them have played with the motherland of Sri Lanka. Mr. Prasanna Gunasena also has a good relationship with the Lanka Hospital. What we feel as we write this is that there is a reasonable doubt as to whether he was in the business of breaking up the public health sector and upgrading private hospitals. The General is also a doctor. Various suspicions arise as to what their underlying motive was.
However, there is a law in this country. According to the law, the Sri Lankan Penal Code as well as the Establishments Code, a combination of the two Acts and the Army Act, the law should apply to the officer in the face of criminal as well as institutional law.
It is also the view of the upper echelons of the government, including the Defense Secretary, who do not recognize the problems that exist, that all these problems as well as the struggles are caused by the JVP. Recently, he did not say that the JVP was responsible for the struggles. If so, this Army officer as well as Mr. Prasanna Gunasena must have become members of the JVP and thus dismantled the hospital system.
Even if the President appoints such persons who are neglecting their duties by mortgaging the lives of the people, the existing legal framework should be implemented. Even the President must now realize that such actions were the reason for the destruction of the present President-led government.
The health sector has now declared a state of emergency. It is the responsibility of the President and the Prime Minister to bring to justice all those who created the situation, whatever it may be. It should not be forgotten that without it the country could not be built and without doing so, temporary struggles could continue and struggles could continue
