Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, I second the Adjournment Motion brought by Hon. Amila Prasad on deficiencies in the health sector.

¶ 03 Let me begin with Puttalam Hospital. Hon. Deputy Minister of Health, do you know that a Muslim pregnant woman admitted to a ward delivered her baby while standing? No one here has raised it. What inquiry has been conducted? Please respond.

¶ 04 In Batticaloa District: there is no MS at Akkaraipattu Hospital, Nintavur Hospital, or Kalmunai Hospital. The Batticaloa Teaching Hospital Director is about to retire; the Deputy RD is covering all three. Deputy Director Anushika is seeking a transfer to Colombo. Do you not see Batticaloa, Jaffna, and Puttalam?

¶ 05 Another issue: at Jaffna Teaching Hospital, 170 health workers were promised appointments; I brought them to meet the Minister. Yet the day before yesterday, they were sent to the street. When will you honour that assurance?

¶ 06 The Jaffna Teaching Hospital drug store caught fire. For years, I warned that certain doctors were mishandling supplies; you did not believe me. Just when “SWASTHA” was to be implemented, the drug store was burned. CCTV had been disabled a week earlier. What is your Ministry doing?

¶ 07 At Tellippalai Hospital, Dr. Krishanthi serves without appointment; there are complaints to the President’s Office about illegal collections. You have initiated inquiries, but progress is slow. The Hon. Prime Minister promised action; please act.

¶ 08 In Mancholai Hospital, a child died; the post-mortem report is still not available. I have great faith in the Health Minister and Deputy. But you must know your officials. The DGHS has written raising suspicions about the death of Kapila Chandrasena—are you looking into such matters? Appointments to DGHS require Cabinet approval per Gazette Extraordinary of 11.10.2014—how was this done? In Batticaloa there are no MSs in three hospitals; a senior administrative post is advertised. Please examine. Be aware of your institutions’ officials.

¶ 09 If you have conducted an inquiry into the drug store fire in the North, please inform Parliament. I can provide information—not a container story; about how items were removed, and how long “SWASTHA” has been delayed in the North. I helped pilot “SWASTHA” at Peradeniya Teaching Hospital as MO (Planning).

¶ 10 “SWASTHA” still has not been implemented in the North. When pricing teams from 1451 arrive, the stores get burned. Goods worth billions lost. The damage from this is worse than someone lighting a cigarette in Parliament. Please respond and ensure Ministers and Deputies know how their subordinates operate.

¶ 11 Thank you.