• Doctors want 300 Osu Salas to sell drugs Adding more injury to ulcers
• Minister promises flour, bread prices won't skyrocket
• Thilan declares assets
• Sanath's first act
• A watery problem
• Party men to go with GNs
• Liquidated CSL in operation
• Missing man found
• Gunning for a gunman
• Snippets
• Two new districts
• Vehicles vanish for VIP visit
• Visa fees: Much ado-then nothing
• Priest was strangled - 27 injuries on body 
• 'Time to translate cry for peace into reality'
• Awards for journalists in 15 categories
• Hands off Gampola
• Mother's day plea for peace
• If you see CC they are Consular Corps
• Concern over fallout from Mawanella incidents
• Wayamba teachers gear up for action
• Union claims teachers are disgruntled
• 'Intruders wanted article published'
• House awakens to fiery words
• State violence Vs rebels' right to life
• Who was responsible for the Mawanella disaster?
• Madam, we're sitting on a volcano 
• Two steps back, one step sideways towards unity
• Abu-Marzuq bulldozed into a mere statistic 

Doctors want 300 Osu Salas to sell drugs Adding more injury to ulcers

In a move that could help slash medical bills of patients and the country as a whole, government doctors have proposed the setting up of at least 300 state pharmaceutical 'Osu Sala' outlets in all parts of the country to promote the sale of drugs under generic names.

Government Medical Officers Association Secretary Dr. Anurudda Padeniya said 6,000 members of the GMOA were ready to co-operate fully in a new campaign to put patients rights before the patent rise of big drug companies.

The GMOA believes that the main culprits in the promotion of highly expensive drugs under various trade names instead of the more affordable generic names are the thousands of pharmacies which are operating outside legal procedures and are known to be colluding with medical representatives of drug companies to promote brand names.

Dr. Padeniya said most doctors were prescribing drugs under generic names and regulations should be enforced to prevent pharmacies from forcing or fooling unsuspecting patients into buying the same drugs under brand names which often cost five to ten times more. He said there should be strict guidelines and regulations for pharmacies and immediate steps should be taken to train more pharmacists. Until then qualified state pharmacists should be appointed to supervise pharmacies in particular areas with strict checks and corrective action.

The GMOA secretary also called for the setting up of drug information units in various parts of the country with 24 hour hot lines on which people could call to find out the generic names and prices of generic drugs. He said the lists of essential and critical drugs needed to be revived and updated regularly and a fresh list issued by the National Drug Formulary Committee every year.

Dr. Padeniya said the government should also take comprehensive steps not only for the import of cheaper generic drugs but also for their local production. Through such means the country's overall drug import bill could be reduced by hundreds of millions of rupees while each family could save thousands of rupees every month.

In the import and promotion of cheaper generic drugs he urged that steps be taken to ensure that the drugs were safe, efficacious and of good quality.

In the 1970s Prof. Senaka Bibile who pioneered the campaign for generic drugs said 200 to 300 generic drugs were sufficient to meet Sri Lanka's medical needs. Today due to the ill-effects of the open economic policy, more than 5,000 varieties of drugs are imported under highly expensive brand names. Even where brand names are concerned Sri Lanka is importing from western-based companies which charge five to ten times as much as companies in India or Pakistan.

Minister promises flour, bread prices won't skyrocket

Food Minister Reggie Ranatunga told The Sunday Times the CWE would act as a buffer for the public against high wheat flour prices now that the market had been taken out of state control. "We will ensure that the public pays a reasonable price for flour," he assured.

Last month, the Finance Ministry and Prima concluded a deal in which the Trincomalee facility was sold at US $ 65 million to the Singapore firm which had been running the factory for many years on a long lease. 

The deal was concluded ahead of the government-Prima contract which ends in 2005 in which Prima mills all wheat grain imported by the state. 

Mr. Ranatunga said the CWE had placed two orders of 20,000 tonnes of wheat grain, each, which is due to arrive from the United States in the next few weeks. Both consignments would be sent to the Prima milling plant in Trincomalee for crushing and returned to the CWE for distribution to the markets.

"Earlier we imported the wheat grain and sent it to Trincomalee for crushing but the future situation would be slightly different," said Mr. Ranatunga adding that the CWE would either import wheat for straight delivery to the market or wheat grain for milling at the Prima facility and then release it to the market. "We will go for the best price and it could be either milled wheat or raw grain," he said. 

Mr. Ranatunga denied speculation that the sale of the government's milling facility at Trincomalee would ruin the CWE's import business, saying the market had been freed now with the consumer becoming the beneficiary since anyone can import and compete in the market.

Thilan declares assets

By Laila Nasry

The bribery chief Rienzie Arsecularatne while investigating a complaint made by Ranjith Atukorale asked Mr. Wijesinghe to declare all assets and hand over his diplomatic passport.

Mr. Wijesinghe said he had already handed over his diplomatic passport to the BOI.

On Friday the former BOI chief appeared before the Colombo Magistrate following a complaint made by Mr. Arsecularatne that Mr. Wijesinghe was not co-operating with the investigations carried out by the Bribery and corruption commission.

Chief Magistrate A.A.R. Heiyantuduwe enlarged Mr. Wijesinghe on personal bail of Rs.100,000. 

He also ordered Mr. Wijesinghe to cooperate with the Bribery and Corruption Commission and not to leave the country without the express permission of the Magistrate Court and the High Court where he had been indicted. 

Attorney Lakshmi Wijewickrema who appeared for the Bribery and Corruption Commission told court there were other investigations pending against Mr. Wijesinghe and requested the case be brought up on June 13.

On Wednesday Mr. Wijesinghe was indicted before the Colombo High Court under Section 19(b), 19(c) and 21(c) of the Bribery and Corruption Act for allegedly soliciting and accepting a bribe of US$ one million from a businessman who had applied to open a flour milling project in the Galle district.

Sanath's first act

The transfer came in the wake of many changes to take place within the corporation following his appointment as the 12th chairman since its inception.

Ms. Malkanthi Kodithuwakku who functioned as secretary to the chairman and board of directors had held the post since its inception. Mr. Gunethilake on Thursday transferred Ms. Kodithuwakku to the administration branch. 

A watery problem

The WRDB which has disconnected the water supply of private consumers who failed to pay their bills are now facing a problem in recovering the monies.

Meanwhile, some consumers whose supply was cut off are reported to be getting water illegally. The board has decided to set up a special unit to crack down on such consumers. 

A WRDB spokesman said state institutions including the Army and several hospitals were in arrears. The drastic cuts in budget allocation to state institutions were said to be the main cause for the non-payment of water bills.

Party men to go with GNs

By Shelani de Silva

The move was meant to eliminate the inclusion of names of non-existent persons in the voter register.

Assistant Elections Commissioner K. Senanayake said political parties rarely took the three chances given to them to check the accuracy of voter registers. However, he said, they were the first to complain of election malpractice.

He said the party representatives could accompany the enumerator, ask for a list of the voters and make their objections.

Meanwhile, the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), an independent election monitoring group, has decided to send its representatives to accompany the Grama Niladharis.

The PAFFREL's executive director Kingsley Rodrigo said he would urge political parties to send their representatives to accompany the Grama Niladharis.

He said there were nearly 1.5 million non-existent voters in the electoral register.
COPE to probe CEB

By Chandani Kirinde

Among those summoned to appear before the COPE are the Ministry of Power and Energy secretary, the CEB chairman, its board of directors and general manager.

The other institutions lined up to be summoned before the COPE are the Ports Authority, the CWE, the Ceylon Pharmaceutical Corporation and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, sources said.

They said in May the COPE would examine the performance reviews of the institutions before beginning in-depth inquires.

John Amaratunga was elected chairman of the parliamentary committee in March by a majority of two votes.

Mr. Amaratunga has promised that the committee would not be used to ridicule the government.

Liquidated CSL in operation

By Tania Fernando

They said the machinery belonging to the CSL had been sold to a Pakistani company after calling for tenders. According to the agreement, the machinery should be removed within two years. But, the company continued to operate from the premises using the machinery for commercial purposes.

Meanwhile, the sources said the company continued to pay rent to CSL even though the Attorney General's Department had asked the competent authority to take legal action against the company way back in 1996.

In another letter inMarch this year, the Finance Ministry said the Cabinet had decided that work should be concluded on or before April 30. However, work still continued with most matters still to be finalised, sources said. Meanwhile, the CSL competent authority Sumith Ediriwickrema said all queries raised by the Auditor General's Department had been answered and there was no problem with the liquidation process.

Missing man found

The American citizen Rodney Brandon Walker from Florida arrived in Sri Lanka on a flight from Bangkok late on the night of April 17. He was last seen speaking with unidentified persons in the lobby of the Galle Face Hotel on April 18 at about 9.00 a.m. 

The US embassy last week sought public assistance to locate Mr. Walker. 

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