United National Party leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has called on the government to act responsibly to control the current escalation of Covid cases in the country.
Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, he reiterated that the most effective way to control the situation was to carry out more testing. He charged that the government was paying more attention to election work than conducting more tests and taking action to bring the pandemic under control.
He said the only proven method to bring the situation under control was the four-step formula comprising testing, tracing, isolating and treating.
He urged the government to implement the World Health Organisation recommendations and not to shirk its responsibility to protect the people.
“Where is the health minister? She is electioneering in Ratnapura. There is no coordination between different levels of administration. The government has handed over the task to health and military officials. But this will not solve the problem. Decisions have to be taken by the political leadership,” he said.
He also asked the government to tell the people what happened to more than US$ 200 million it received from the WHO, the European Union and other donors to fight the Covid pandemic. “Was this money used for election work, or was it used to distribute Rs. 5,000 relief to the people. The government should tell the truth,” he said.
The Finance Ministry has released full details of the removal of the suspension on Importation of Motor Vehicles.
Speaker Ashoka Ranawala whose educational qualifications have been questioned has decided to step down from the post of Speaker
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