• Calls them ‘impractical, superficial, and divisive’
• Claims the PHIs were not consulted

By Sarah Hannan The Public Health Inspectors’ Union of Sri Lanka (PHIUSL) on Friday (29) stated that they do not approve of the impractical health guidelines that were issued in light of the country resuming public activities during its gradual exit from the existing restrictions for Covid-19. “We view these guidelines to be superficial and completely impractical. Some of the guidelines that are included will create a divide between the general public and the PHIs (public health inspectors), as it seriously tarnishes the trust that was built between the public and the health authorities. The least the Ministry could have done was get the officers that were working in the field involved,” PHIUSL President M.G.U. Rohana stated. The PHIUSL urged that the published guidelines should be revised to include a more practical and workable approach, with the regulations needing to be gazetted, so that when people fail to follow them, necessary legal action could be taken against them. A Health Ministry official, speaking to The Sunday Morning, noted that there had been minor edits to the guidelines that were issued on 27 May and the finalised guidelines were re-published as an Annexure II on the Ministry of Health website, where all guidelines were compressed into a single document on 28 May. The guidelines are to be downloaded along with the assurance form, which is available on the Ministry of Health website by all business and service providers, who are then required to submit the duly filled original of the assurance form to the area medical officer of health. A copy of the same is to be sent to the local government authority (municipal council/urban council/pradeshiya sabha) and another copy should be kept within the business premises. The official further stated that the guidelines are issued to remove the bottlenecks that would be created once the restrictions start to relax across the island. The official assured that the Ministry of Health is looking at completing the necessary documentation for these guidelines and will gazette the corresponding regulations at its earliest.