Special Assignment

11th October 1998

Don't they deserve more?

It's not enough, say loved ones

Don't they deserve more?

Over-worked doctors and medical staff in Colombo hospitals have been trying to cope with the wounded soldiers being brought from the battlefront at regular intervals over the past week. The scenes are the same when ever the Tigers carryout major attacks or when military operations are in full swing. The aftermath of the Kilinochci debacle was no different.

Rows of ambulances plying down the Galle road from Ratmalana trying to negotiate the jam-packed roads was another common sight during the past two weeks.

As city hospitals were being filled with wounded soldiers prompting medical authorities to cancel operations and clinics for the routine patients 'The Sunday Times Investigation Desk' team visited hospitals to interview soldiers, medical staff and spoke to the public to probe whether soldiers could be given better care.

At the Colombo National hospital, the staff was about to walk out after a long and tiring operation of attending to about 300 soldiers for about 30 hours continuously.

Their faces were drawn and their tired walk spoke volumes of the battle they fought over the days to rid the soldiers of their pain.

"Try to understand. The situation is such that if your leg is not cut the infection will spread all over your body causing more pain and damage to the system. It won't be so bad. You will feel much better after the operation. Besides, we will get you an artificial leg. None will notice the difference,"Sister Gnanaweera at the Colombo National Hospital was heard saying to a soldier whose only reply came in the form of a signature to agree to the operation. But, with great sorrow.

"The staff has been working day and night. Not a single staffer requested leave since the increase in casualty figures nor have they wanted to leave duty when there were soldiers in need of urgent medical attention," Director Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital Dr. D. L. de Lanerolle said.

But for some soldiers the journey to hospital had been in itself a hard battle with some of them getting minimal medical attention and others waiting for hours before being put on a flight to be brought to Colombo and a few more hours at the Ratmalana Air Port before being put on an ambulance to be moved to a hospital.

"There weren't enough ambulances to rush us to the hospitals. We were packed into huge 'Tata' buses, sometimes on top of each other," one of soldiers who did not want to be named said.

One of the most saddening scenes that most people witnessed was that of ambulances speeding along Galle road. These same ambulances that were rushing soldiers to hospital had to rush back to the Airport to collect more of the wounded.

Those who witnessed these scenes wondered why more could not be spent on a fleet of ambulances.

Some soldiers felt many lives could have been saved if officials at the battlefront took necessary steps to tend to them immediately.

"We saw our colleagues bleeding to death for lack of transportation by air or foot. For that we cannot forgive anyone. "Helicopters were not available when they were most needed," another group of soldiers receiving treatment at a hospital said.

"I had to wait for four hours at the Ratmalana airport before I was put into an overcrowded ambulance and brought here," another soldier said.

"We understand that it is difficult to provide facilities in the battlefront. As soldiers we do not expect it. But when we are brought to the city we expect better facilities to take us to hospital as soon as possible," he said.

In some cases the soldiers in the battlefront were provided with medicinal bandages which only prevented the wounds from bleeding further until they reached a hospital in Colombo or Anuradhapura.

In many hospitals some of the routine operations and clinics were cancelled to accommodate the wounded soldiers.

But patients whose surgeries were lined up and who needed extra care did not mind the hospital giving priority to the soldiers.

In fact, they had voluntarily moved out of their beds to make way for the soldiers. In some cases, embarrassed soldiers had to share the wards with female patients also. But it was a sacrifice those patients were willing to make.

Many soldiers felt that better food could have been provided.

Dr. de Lanerolle admitted there were complaints from soldiers regarding the food. "The only thing we have not been able to do much about was the food. We asked the army officials to bring food and distribute it since we don't allow food from outside.. But the offer was rejected and there was little we could do about it,".

Many ex-servicemen, the public and some politicians were not satisfied about the care provided to soldiers.

President of the Association of Disabled Ex Service Personnel, H.K.A. Dayaratne commenting on soldier care said he was disappointed about the treatment meted out to soldiers at the National Hospital, Colombo.

He was most critical of the manner in which soldiers were transferred from Ratmalana to hospitals in Colombo."I was told that it takes 1 and 1 1/2 hours for an ambulance to get to Colombo. This is due to traffic blocks. Why is it that they do not airlift soldiers who are in a critical condition, especially when the time saved might actually mean a limb saved. Helicopters have landing facilities at the Army grounds and injured soldiers could be transferred immediately to the Army Hospital and to Jayawardenapura hospital.

"I had proposed to the Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte to open up hospitals close to the airport. This would avoid a lot of hassle.

"Ordinary people cannot go to the battlefront to help the soldiers but at least when they are brought to Colombo we could help in getting them to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. It is important to get the injured soldiers to a hospital as soon as possible to minimise the chances of having to amputate their limbs," he said.

Mr. Dayaratne himself who was injured in the Sri Maha Bodhi attack in 1985 resulting in the loss of a limb said another area which the government should improve are the facilities provided to families of injured soldiers who come to visit them.

Mr. Dayaratne said he met a wounded soldier's mother who had taken eight days to trace her son at the Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital. This woman who was from Kantale had lost one of her sons earlier in battle. She had heard that her second son had been wounded in the Kilinochchi battle, and first visited the Anuradhapura Hospital and thereafter arrived in Colombo and visited all the hospitals before she ultimately traced her son.

He said when he visited Israel to get an artificial arm fixed he had noticed how the families of wounded soldiers in Israel were provided transport and all facilities to visit the soldiers.

Mr. Dayaratne called on the government to appeal for public assistance whenever necessary, without concealing the fact that they needed assistance.

"If the public were told that transport was needed there would be hundreds of vehicles at Ratmalana to help transport the injured soldiers. In a war situation like this the Government should request for public assistance."

It was only on Friday as the emergency debate was in progress in Parliament the Government released the contact telephone numbers of army establishments for families to obtain details of the injured, dead and missing soldiers. The two page fax dispatched from the Operational Headquarters of the Defence Ministry around 9.30 a.m. was released through the Information Department to newspaper offices and the electronic media .

It took almost two weeks for the government to release the names of information centres for families of soldiers to get information regarding those wounded, missing or dead in action. Now a separate unit has been set up in the Army to provide information to families and the relevant telephone numbers have been made accessible to the public.

Meanwhile many people were waiting for an opportunity to make donations to the soldiers, but apparently they were finding it difficult to approach the military directly.

According to the Army welfare branch the army provides all injured soldiers with food packets and the basic necessities. The army does not request for donations from the general public, since it was possible for them to provide the soldiers with what ever they need.

Brigadier S.I.S Dassanayake Director Welfare told The Sunday Times soldiers are given the best of facilities by the army.

"We don't have to depend on donations nor do we ask for any. The public does so on their own account. Our officers visit the soldiers on a daily basis and provide them with clothes and linen. Bed linen most of the time is changed once a week while pyjamas are changed every two days. They can ask for anything else they need," he said.

Explaining the procedure followed when informing the family of a wounded soldier he said the message is conveyed through the Army network in the area.

"The police is also informed. In areas there are no camps the closest Army camp to the house is informed . The family is given all details including the whereabouts of the soldier and his condition," he said.

Inspite of claims made by the Army the Anuradhapura Hospital had to make an urgent appeal to the public on Friday for donations of plastic jugs , cups, trolleys and other items for the soldiers.

A couple of political parties have come forward to assist the injured soldiers, together with other humanitarian organisations. While the Seva Vanitha unit of the Army too visited the hospitals several school children, and religious groups have shown their concern.

The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna has organised volunteers to visit the hospitals .

MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardene told The Sunday Times the services were done not as a political party, but as a service and to the hundreds of wounded soldiers.

"We have got the young people and party members involved. They visit the hospitals on a daily basis. We provide whatever service they need,"he said.

The JVP meanwhile has decided to use the funds from their Provincial Council Fund to assist the soldiers and their families.

Party spokesman Wimal Weerawansa said although they are not a welfare organisation they have decided to take money from the fund to help the soldiers.

Meanwhile Rev. Sobitha Thera on hearing of the plight of hundreds of soldiers brought in to various hospitals formed a committee to make regular visits to the wards.His work centres round the Sri Jayawardanapura Hospital where they visit the soldiers and chant Pirith and Bana.

"We were surprised in the manner these boys were pleading with us to chant pirith. Most of them called us and said they were in pain and wanted us to chant pirith claiming the pain would diminish. Some wanted to talk to us and share their experiences. Most of them said that they need some spicy food so we donated chutney and pickles," he said.

The Federation of Buddhist Organisations who visited the Anuradhapura Hospital were told by soldiers that the authorities had given the captured LTTE cadres beds while they were kept on the floor.

Last week the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress together with the National Movement Against Terrorism set up temporary shelters for the families visiting the soldiers. This was done in co-ordination with The Sudu Nelum Movement which had started a similar programme at the Vajira Lama Nivasa. According to the head priest at the home, they give shelter for at least 300 people with meals and other facilities too being provided.

Speaking in terms of anonymity one soldier at the Colombo Accident Ward told us, "Aiyya for heavens sake tell these politicians not to visit us while we are in hospital, for they only aggravate the situation.These so called VIP's come here and just want to know how we are. These are just empty words. They never cared for us and they never will."

Families of the wounded soldiers who came to visit them faced many hardships. Although some of them came from far off places they had to stick to visiting hours.

They also faced many restrictions because of the pass system in operation.

Even when it came to the handing over of bodies to families there was confusion.

Many undertakers all over the country had their hands full. In Kandy last Saturday people were shocked to see the number of bodies delivered to one funeral parlour. Inspite of lack of facilities, many soldiers were determined to get to the front.

" We must go back to the front. If not who will fight the war and what would happen?" asked these heroic soldiers.

An amputated leg or a bullet wound could not stop them from the call to duty.

It's not enough, say loved ones

A cross section of families of wounded soldiers speaking to 'The Sunday Times Investigation Desk' said they felt the Government could improve facilities for the wounded soldiers and to those who came to visit them. They also said there were delays in informing them about soldiers who are wounded or presumed missing in action.

Sharmalee the wife of an wounded soldier said "the public is not concerned. We do not get any news. At least if the censorship was lifted we would get to know the real situation."

Sandhya a young wife of a soldier who had his leg amputated said it would be good if they got news of what was taking place instead of being kept in the dark. She said the facilities at the Anuradhapura Hospital were good. Her husband had been in the Intensive Care Unit for more than a week. It was touching to see the way they held hands and the happy expression on the soldier's face as they spoke to us. They appeared to have the courage to face whatever the future held in store.

D.M. Loku Menike the mother of another patient said she felt due to censorship the amount of information coming to the people was less and therefore the amount of service the public could do was also less.

Vithanage, a trishaw driver whose home town is Matara, said news censorship was an injustice being done to the public. He felt this affected the service rendered to soldiers. Before helping, people need to know what is happening.

"This is the first day the parents and family came but still they were asked to get passes and come back if they wanted to see their loved ones," said a relative of a young man who had lost one of his eyes and was not even in a condition to speak. All he did was grip his mother's hand in a tight grip. "We were not informed through official sources, it was a visitor to the hospital who contacted us and told he was in hospital," , the brother of the boy said.

Krishanthi (28) from Dematagoda has been married for a month. This is the second time her husband has been seriously wounded in battle. One year ago when he was injured and admitted to Anuradhapura Hospital, upon regaining consciousness he had given his aunt's telephone number to a security person and asked him to inform her that he was in hospital.

To date they have not received official news of his being wounded. Even this time it had been the same. They have not yet been informed through official channels. The young couple also stressed when a soldier dies it takes a long time for the family to receive his salary. In a situation where young men are laying down their lives for their country the least the public can do is to see that this work is expedited, to reduce the hardships these families are going through.

Shriyananda from Ambalangoda said he felt public support was not enough. When things are being hushed up the amount that people can do is also minimal. "What is said on local news services is one thing, in London it is another thing while in the Philippines it's another," he said.

Piyasena Gamage the elder brother of another wounded soldier said they had not been informed. When he found out that his brother had been wounded and brought to Ratmalana he had gone to Army Head Quarters where officials checked a computer list and said such a person had not been brought in. But the hospital staff had been very helpful when he telephoned several hospitals to find out whether his brother had been admitted.

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