The Hon. Chaminda Lalith Kumara
Chaminda Lalith Kumara supported the NMRA regulations, stating that they form part of the Government’s efforts to strengthen health services under the Health Minister and President. He criticized the Opposition for past failures on staffing, drug quality, and hospital administration, and cited current measures such as hospital development committees, staff appointments for new facilities, and stronger regulation of private-sector health services. He also called for regulation of laboratory testing standards due to inconsistent results and urged Opposition support for bringing health services closer to communities.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.
¶ 02 Today’s debate on NMRA regulations reflects the Government’s determination—led by the Hon. Health Minister and the Hon. President—to revitalize health services. Some Opposition remarks feign surprise at shortages and quality issues they ignored when in power—failing to recruit staff, defending those who supplied substandard drugs, and providing various cover.
¶ 03 An Hon. Member from Karapitiya said he “can’t see the direction.” If you step out of Karapitiya, you will see ongoing measures: establishing hospital development committees in Gampaha and elsewhere to reconnect community structures to hospitals; addressing staff appointments to operationalize new buildings like at Mirigama; and strengthening existing regulatory institutions to control private sector abuses.
¶ 04 There are reports of differing lab results within the same town for the same blood sample due to inconsistent equipment. We need regulation there too. The Government is moving services closer to homes and communities. If the Opposition supports rather than obstructs, that will serve the nation.
¶ 05 Thank you.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 21 October 2025 ·No. 22635 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/29631
Cite as: The Hon. Chaminda Lalith Kumara. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 21 October 2025. No. 22635. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/29631