Financial Times

Chandrika, Ranil in joint appeal to business community

President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in a rare joint appeal, pleaded with Sri Lanka's business community last week to support - financially and in other ways - a project to build a mental health facility costing Rs. 100 million on the banks of the Bolgoda lake at Moratuwa.

The proposed centre initiated by Sahanaya (National Council for Mental Health), envisages a wide range of facilities such as clinical services for 600 persons, residential facilities for 34 persons, mental health training for 3,000 persons and rehabilitation services for 2,000 persons (all annually).

The president invited the PM, Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya (who laid the foundation stone recently for the new facility) and top business leaders at a meeting last Monday at President's House to seek their support towards this venture. She said all contributions towards the Sahanaya project would be 100 percent tax free and channeled through the President's Fund.

It was one of those few public meetings between the two leaders who have been having serious differences of opinion on a range of issues including the peace process and the presidential takeover of the Development Lotteries Board.

While the two leaders were cordial towards each other (showering praise too on each other in their speeches), the president couldn't, however, resist joking about how resources to the President's fund was being threatened (because of the Lotteries board dispute). While business leaders watched with amused looks, the prime minister responded only with a smile - perhaps disappointing some of those present!

A mental health patient, now recovered, spoke about his illness a year ago saying if not for the support of his wife and some colleagues in the office, he wouldn't have survived. "My behaviour changed and I became withdrawn. My children referred to me as a mad man," he said adding that treatment through Sahanaya helped him recover. "I hope that there are many Sahanayas in the country."

Professor Nalaka Mendis, one of the founders of Sahanaya and its vice-president, explained the mental health situation in Sri Lanka and the role of Sahanaya. He said 10 percent of Sri Lanka's population suffer from some form of mental illness while of the 6,000 people who commit suicide every year, half of them suffer from mental problems.

He said mental health should be pushed up in the list of priorities in the public policy agenda. "The cost of the new Sahanaya facility may be high at Rs. 100 million, but if you look at the people who benefit (and also calculate the amount saved by way of loss of productivity), this is a small amount."

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he was aware of the deep interest shown by the president on health issues and urged the business community and the public to get together to help these disadvantaged groups.

President Kumaratunga. who welcomed the support of the Prime Minister and Minister Jayasuriya, said society at large has been brutalised by violence from the southern and northern conflicts and also through the political arena. "As politicians, we are all responsible for increasing political violence and must get together to put a stop to it."

She said figures relating to the mental health status in Sri Lanka are misleading because many people who have low-intensity problems may not seek treatment which then goes unnoticed.

The president praised the work by Sahanaya and pleaded for support from the business community as it was a public issue.