Dayasiri’s proposal to Govt.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara, who spent 14 days in a Covid-19 treatment centre after testing positive, last week returned home and is currently undergoing a week of self-isolation.
“Happy to have returned home today after being declared Covid free. I will now be subject (to) one week of self-isolation at my residence. I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers throughout my recovery over the last few days,” Jayasekara tweeted last Wednesday (20).
“A special thank you to the medical personnel for their fantastic work around the country as we tackle this pandemic. I urge the public to take note of the symptoms of this virus, and take steps to protect yourselves and your families while following health guidelines,” he added.
In a social media post, Jayasekara said that Covid-19 has now spread around the country without any control. “The Government does not have the ability to direct everyone into quarantine centres and provide the required facilities given the current circumstances. This is mainly due to the limited human resources in the health sector and the high expenditure to be incurred for the quarantine process. I therefore propose to the health sector to permit people to home quarantine if a person tests positive and is still able to use a separate room and toilet during the quarantine period under the supervision of the respective public health inspectors. In such a scenario, the Government will be able to limit the number of quarantine centres,” he had noted.
The State Minister also noted that it would not be easy to provide quarantine facilities to the 60,000-odd Sri Lankans whom the Government plans to repatriate to the country in the next few weeks.
“In order to address the issue, once again I would like to propose the option of home quarantine for them as well,” Jayasekara had proposed.
Koththamalli treatment
[caption id="attachment_115459" align="alignleft" width="225"]SLMC leader undergoes routine temperature checks during his Covid-19 treatment in Koggala[/caption] Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader MP Rauff Hakeem, who was also being treated for Covid-19 at a treatment centre, completed his treatment last week. During his stay at the quarantine facility, it is learnt that Hakeem and several other governing party members who were receiving treatment at the facility were given koththamalli during their stay to boost their immunity to fight the virus. A few days prior to his departure from the facility, Hakeem tweeted a photograph of the evening view from the room he was residing in at the facility. “The evening sunset from my quarantine facility in Koggala and the routine check on my temperature and oxygen levels in the lungs. Masha Allah doing well so far. Three more days for the boredom to end,” Hakeem tweeted on Wednesday.
New posts
Two new diplomatic posts were recently announced by the parliamentary High Post Committee. They are to the Seychelles and Nigeria. Srimal Wickramasinghe, who held the post of Deputy Ambassador of Sri Lanka’s mission in Vienna during the 2010-2015 period, has been nominated as Sri Lanka’s new envoy to Seychelles. According to reports, Wickramasinghe is a sibling of a wife of a senior member of the Government. A Sri Lankan mission in Seychelles was opened during the Mahinda Rajapaksa presidency. The other appointment is to Sri Lanka’s mission in Nigeria. Former MP Janaka Bandara, who is also related to several senior government members, has been nominated as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Nigeria.No way says Dissanayake
State Minister for Wildlife Protection, Adoption of Safety Measures including the Construction of Electric Fences and Trenches and Reforestation and Forest Resource Development Wimalaweera Dissanayake had refused to grant permission for the Ukrainian tour groups in the country to visit the Dehiwela Zoo or the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The Minister had said that none of the facilities under the purview of the National Zoological Department would permit tourists under the current Covid-19 situation. Dissanayake had said that while he had received a request to permit the Ukrainian tourists to visit the zoo and the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, he would not grant permission. “I will grant permission only if the President grants approval for such an action,” he had stated. The Minister had explained that a decision had not yet been reached on a date to reopen the facilities under the National Zoological Department that were closed due to the pandemic. Former Sri Lankan Envoy to Russia Udayanga Weeratunge last month initiated a tourism pilot project to bring down several tour groups from the Ukraine to Sri Lanka.
Robbery at Horagolla?
An unidentified individual had entered the ancestral home of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Horagolla in Nittambuwa, last Wednesday (20). The break-in had taken place when the premises were being provided special security. There is also a police post at the gate to the entrance of the Bandaranaike Samadhi. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the individual had opened a latch after breaking a glass panel on a door in the back of the house. While the former President had not been at the premises at the time of the incident, there had been three security personnel on duty. Whether any valuables were missing from the premises was not immediately known. However, it was subsequently reported that several bottles of wine that were in the refrigerator on the ground floor of the house were taken. Further investigations are being carried out by the Colombo Crimes Division and the Nittambuwa Police.The failed tonic
Last week, criticisms mounted over the effectiveness of the controversial concoction prepared by Dhammika Bandara to cure Covid-19, popularly known as “Dhammika Paniya”, with several politicians who had consumed the concoction testing positive for Covid-19. In fact, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) councillor at the Kegalle Praseshiya Sabha Shilantha Wijepala went public last week saying that he and his family had consumed the Dhammika Paniya and they have now tested positive for Covid-19. Wijepala had further stated that several other family members who had also consumed the concoction had been infected with Covid-19. He had added that he as well as his family members had consumed the tonic as prescribed by the producer and had even refrained from consuming any meat items during the period. According to the SLPP councillor, although he had initially believed the tonic to be a curative concoction, it has been proven that it is not so. Also last week, SLPP Minister Piyal Nishantha, who publicly consumed the Dhammika Paniya, tested positive for Covid-19. However, creator of the tonic, Bandara claimed last week that those who have been infected by the virus after consuming the tonic are those who had failed to consume the proper dosages. Last Thursday (21), Bandara decided to distribute his tonic free of charge to people and carried out yet another dansala. He first held a free distribution a few months ago.
Above the law?
Only 32 legislators of the 225-member-strong legislature had voluntarily participated in the Covid-19 PCR tests that were carried out by Parliament. The screening process covering the legislators as well as parliament staff was carried out after several parliamentarians tested positive for Covid-19 within the past two weeks. However, it is learnt that only 32 MPs had participated in the PCR testing process. It is interesting to note that while the legislators were able to ignore the directive to do PCR tests, ordinary citizens are subjected to mandatory PCR testing and isolation/quarantine in the event they had come in to contact with a Covid-19-infected person.Feeling sorry
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has recently noted that he felt sorry for Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ranjan Ramanayake, who was recently sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of contempt of court. Aluthgamage had said that he was looking at withdrawing two cases filed by him against Ramanayake at the Nugegoda courts. He had further noted that once Ramanayake is in a position to attend court proceedings after completing his quarantine period, steps would be taken to withdraw the cases. According to Aluthgamage, the incumbent Government is not interested in engaging in political victimisation and that the former Yahapalana Government as well as the former Prime Minister were responsible for the fate that has befallen Ramanayake.
The message
MP Ven. Athutraliye Rathana Thera, who recently entered Parliament to fill the National List slot of the Our People’s Power Party, is considering extending his support to the Government, it is learnt. A pro-Government social media site last week reported that Ven. Rathana Thera had sent several messages to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing his desire to extend his support to the Government. However, the Government has so far not responded to these overtures, the report further noted. The Thera had further sent a request to the Chief Government Whip for a seat allocation for him in the governing party side in Parliament, the report has added. The governing party has reportedly not responded to this request either. [caption id="attachment_115461" align="alignleft" width="225"]
State Minister Lohan Ratwatte inspects the Monaragala Prison[/caption]