1990 Emergency Ambulance Service in Eastern Province as final phase roll-out

The 1990 Emergency Ambulance Service was launched in the Eastern Province in a special ceremony held recently in Ampara tomark the final phase of the project.

Service launched in the Eastern Province completes the island-wide expansion of the service through a grant of USD 15.2 million provided by India, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka said.

The grant covered the purchase of 209 ambulances, the operational expenditure for one-year of this service along with training costs.

Speaking at the event which was held to mark the completion of this project, Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh said that India would remain as the 'first responder to Sri Lanka' at all times.

The 1990 Emergency Ambulance project was flagged off in 2016 under an Indian grant of USD 7.5 million following a request made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Since then, this service had been gradually expanded throughout the country.