The Hon. (Dr.) M.L.A.M. Hizbullah

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to join the debate on Health and Mass Media. I work closely and cordially with Hon. Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, who approaches issues properly and seeks solutions; I appreciate him, the Deputy Minister, and the Ministry Secretary. This is a crucial Ministry for both the economy and the people, and this year’s higher allocation is an important milestone.

¶ 03 In the Eastern Province, five hospitals in Ampara, two in Trincomalee, and one in Batticaloa are under the Central Government. We have long urged that Kattankudy Base Hospital be taken over by the Central Government and upgraded to a District General Hospital. The hospital team, led by Director Dr. Jabir, met Dr. Anil Jasinghe when he was DGHS more than three times. Yet the matter remains pending. The hospital serves over 150,000 people across four Divisional Secretariat areas, and police and armed forces in the area. We ourselves have provided ICU, ETU, and operation theatre facilities; during COVID, thousands were treated, and many cataract surgeries performed. Please take over and upgrade it to a District General Hospital; we stand ready to support.

¶ 04 From our district alone, nearly 2,000 pints of blood were given to the national blood bank last year. Please establish a blood transfusion centre at Batticaloa District Hospital. In the last Budget, you promised many items to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and delivered them; the people of Batticaloa thank you.

¶ 05 Valachchenai Base Hospital is the only hospital for the Kalkudah electorate. An ETU building complex—including nurses’ and doctors’ quarters, radiology, OT, blood bank, and surgical wards—was estimated at about Rs. 800 million in 2019. If possible, please allocate some funds this year to commence it.

¶ 06 Eravur was upgraded to a Base Hospital without corresponding facilities. Serving 110,000 people, it lacks surgeons, a radiologist, blood bank, and has a shortage of minor staff. The hospital lacks its own land; adjacent State lands previously under Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation remain unused. Please take steps to vest the necessary State land in the hospital; we will assist with approvals.

¶ 07 Regarding the media support in this Budget, ensure that benefits of any housing or land schemes also reach Tamil-speaking journalists in the North and East, who were often overlooked in the past.

¶ 08 The Department of Government Information issues media identity cards, but not to those operating serious social media/YouTube channels, some of which have significant public-interest reach. If suitable, please consider issuing IDs to bona fide digital journalists to facilitate their work. Thank you.