President keen to listen to views of others - Ramesh Pathirana | Sunday Observer
“No active contribution from opposition for Covid-19 Pandemic”:

President keen to listen to views of others - Ramesh Pathirana

14 May, 2021

Co-Cabinet Spokesman and Plantation Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said except for criticism levelled against the Government, there was no active contribution from the Opposition parties throughout the Covid-19 pandemic or any assistance to mitigate it.

The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said anybody in the Opposition didn’t come forward even to praise the control of the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic in the country which was commended by everyone in the whole world.

The Minister said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is also keen to listen to the views of others regarding the current situation. However, rather than having round table conferences as the Opposition suggests, if everybody can contribute in whatever possible manner, that is the ideal way to do it at this particular juncture.

Dr. Pathirana said the number of Covid-19 cases has been rising during the past couple of weeks. Therefore, the Government is very vigilant about it and keeps a close eye on it to ensure that the maximum possible measures are taken to prevent the spread of the disease and cure the Covid-19 patients. We hope that the Government can bring the situation under control within the next few weeks.

Excerpts:

Q: What led the Government to enforce an islandwide travel restrictions until Monday (May 17)?

A: This is due to the prevailing situation that the disease was spreading little faster than anticipated. Most of the unions representing doctors whom the President met during the last week suggested that there has to be more restrictions in relation to travelling. Having considered those requests, the Government has imposed more restrictions without curtailing the economic activities of the country to ensure that more measures are taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

Q: The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) had stressed the need for convening an All Party Conference to discuss the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country. Your views?

A: There is no acute need as such because the Security Forces and the health authorities are doing their best to ensure that the Covid-19 patients are treated well and the disease is not spread. But it is all right to listen to the other views as well.

The President is also keen to listen to the views of others regarding the current situation. There is no harm listening to them. However, rather than having round table conferences as the Opposition suggests, if everybody can contribute in whatever possible manner, that is the best way to act at this particular juncture.

Q: SJB General Secretary MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara had told the media that even though a separate Ministry and several Task Forces have been set up to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government has failed to control the pandemic. Could you comment on this?

A: We will have to take the world scenario into consideration to see whether our country has failed or not. Until the third wave of Covid-19 emerged, we were ranked as the tenth country that has best controlled the Covid-19 pandemic in the world.

Number one was New Zealand and number two and three was Australia and some other countries. We were placed in the tenth position by different international organisations. So, by that you can decide as to what we have done. We have very well controlled the first and second waves of Covid-19 in the country. But the third wave was a little more difficult and dangerous than all of our experiences. It has been so worldwide as well.

A lot of countries had gone through tremendous difficulties during the last year including America, European countries and almost all other countries. We don’t get proper statistics from African countries but all the other countries had gone through much worse situations than ours.

The second thing is when it comes to vaccination programs, there are about 50 countries in the world which have not received even a single dose of vaccination.

We had pre-ordered and unfortunately the Serum Institute of India went through a bad patch as the situation in India got worse. So, they couldn’t supply their promised quota of vaccines to Sri Lanka.

In the meantime, we had ordered vaccines from other countries but we couldn’t use the Sinopharm vaccine because the World Health Organization (WHO) didn’t approve the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccine in the world.

At present, the WHO has given the approval to use the Sinopharm vaccine. Given the demand from the other countries, major suppliers including China, Russia and other countries are facing a lot of difficulties to supply the vaccines. Hopefully, we keep our single stock that China will continue to supply and Russia will also send us a reasonable quantity of vaccines in time to come. So, we are expecting to expedite the process of vaccination of the people in vulnerable categories.

Q: Has any decision been taken by the Health Ministry to strengthen the vaccination against Covid-19 in all parts of the county while giving its priority to the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts?

A: There are two schools of thoughts. Actually, the first one was the Western Province so we have already strengthened the vaccination process. We have prioritised the congested and more vulnerable areas in Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts.

In relation to the next step, there are more vulnerable groups including field workers such as Grama Niladharis, Economic Development Officers, Samurdhi Officers, Agrarian Service Officers, postal workers and AGAs who always visit the field and move frequently with the people.

There are also transport workers, employees of the CEB and the CPC as well as the garment workers who are highly exposed to the public. Therefore, all those sectors would be taken into consideration.

Q: Some ask why the Government is showing a lack of interest to seek the support of the Opposition in working towards mitigating the Covid-19 crisis. Your comments?

A: Actually, I don’t know about their commitment towards this. Except the criticism levelled against the Government, there was no active contribution from the Opposition parties throughout the pandemic. If you could remember clearly nobody in the Opposition came forward to praise the control of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country which was commended by everyone in the whole world.

The Opposition didn’t extend any support even to control the first wave of Covid-19 as well. Every time, the Opposition just criticises the Government. During the third wave, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was trying to meet some of the foreign Ambassadors whom the Government had met to seek the assistance at different instances.

We also met the Russian Ambassador and sought their assistance. Even the Opposition Leader also met him. It is all right for them to meet the Ambassadors as long as they are trying to contribute positively. However, I don’t know their agenda in relation to this. So far, we didn’t see anything positive as such at the ground level.

Q: Has the Opposition informed the Government whether any foreign countries have agreed to provide assistance to curb the Covid-19 pandemic following the recent discussions foreign Ambassadors had with the Opposition Leader?

A: Not to my knowledge. If the Opposition has received any such assistance, they will have to inform the Government.

Q: The Opposition alleges instead of giving priority to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government has given priority to construct expressways. Would you like to elaborate your views?

A: When the present Opposition was in power, the country’s development activities went down to a very negative level. Amidst the pandemic, the Government has not suspended the country’s development activities and they are continuing as planned. Even without any Covid-19 outbreak, the former Yahapalana Government failed to launch any mega development activity.

Q: The Public Health Inspectors have warned that the number of people infected with the corona virus is expected to see a further rise and reach its peak in two weeks. Could you explain?

A: The number of Covid-19 cases has been rising during the past couple of weeks. So, the Government is very vigilant about it and keeps a close eye on it to ensure that the maximum possible measures are taken to prevent the spread of the disease and cure the Covid-19 patients.

That is why we have imposed travel restrictions and taken other preventive measures. At the same time, we in parallel improve the health facilities including the number of beds at the hospital level.

There are other issues pertaining to that including health staff. So, the Government is trying to address them.

At this critical moment, we need the support of everyone. Especially, we take this opportunity to thank the healthcare workers and Security Forces for their commendable contribution to overcome this crisis situation. We are responding positively and we hope that the Government can bring the situation under control within the next few weeks ahead.

Q: Earlier, several parties with vested interests voiced opinions against the administration of the Chinese made anti-Covid-19 vaccine to achieve their political agendas. How would you look at this scenario?

A: I think the Chinese made Sinopharm vaccine is very safe and it is used world over. More than one million people have already taken the vaccine. A lot of Sri Lankan people have also taken the vaccine. So, it seems to be a very safe vaccine and I don’t think there is any issue pertaining to that.

Q: Would you like to comment on the Presidential Task Force appointed to transform Sri Lanka into a green socio-economy with a sustainable solution to climate change which you are also a member of?

A: This Task Force chaired by Special Representative to President Basil Rajapaksa consists of 46 members including five Cabinet Ministers, 14 State Ministers, a Governor and a female Member of Parliament.

The Cabinet approved the overall policy framework and proposals contained in the Cabinet memorandum submitted by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on April 27 to transform Sri Lanka towards a green socio-economic model with a sustainable solution to climate change.

The Task Force has a major responsibility to prepare a roadmap for the complete transition from chemical farming to organic farming using organic fertiliser products instead of chemical fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides.

The Presidential Task Force has been appointed with the objective of achieving a number of eco-friendly objectives including saving foreign exchange outflows within the country, enabling the country to have a high advantage in the emerging global economic pattern and mobilising the people for an eco-friendly socio-economic model. The Task Force has also been assigned the responsibility to pay special attention to 24 other issues in relation to environmental protection.

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