• Authorities fail to secure free transport of drugs donated by Lankans in Canada
• Donation prepared in March 2021, brought down only in November 2022 via paid flight
• Health Ministry yet to distribute drugs in East, says probe will happen if complaint made

As the Sri Lankan authorities – including the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SriLankan Airlines, and the Ministry of Health – despite previous agreements, had not taken steps to arrange the free air-freighting of a donation of medicines worth nearly Rs. 20 million provided by a group of Sri Lankans living in Canada, the said donation, which was prepared to be sent to Sri Lanka by March 2021, was delayed by many months, and was finally sent to Sri Lanka on a paid flight, The Morning learnt.

It is also learnt that the Health Ministry has not yet taken steps to distribute the said consignment of drugs, which arrived on 14 November 2022, to hospitals in the Kinniya, Muttur, Thoppur, Thampalakamam, and Akkaraipattu areas in the Eastern Province, as per the donors’ request.

Speaking to The Morning, a source close to the Support Group for Sri Lanka (SGSL) – Hamilton based in Ontario, Canada, said that an outright donation of drugs worth over Rs. 20 million had been put together by the members of the group with the support of a federally approved Canadian charity. The source said that the relevant donation, which had been put together by interested groups to help Sri Lanka at the request of the Health Ministry, had been ready for air freighting since March 2021. 

“When the group had informed the Sri Lankan authorities, they promised to arrange the free-of-all-costs air freighting of this donation. However, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Canada and the relevant officials who were tasked with arranging it did not do their job properly. The said High Commission, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, certain officials of the Health Ministry, and SriLankan Airlines took the said group of Sri Lankans living in Canada around the mulberry bush, but did not arrange the free-of-all-costs air freighting as promised,

“The donors had been contacting many officials of these Institutions and pleading with them for the free air freighting to be arranged, but they had not acted favourably, so they had to send the consignment on a paid flight. The SriLankan Airlines staff at the branch office in the US tried their best to sort out the problems, but they too failed completely,” the source added.

As the free air freighting was not arranged by the aforesaid authorities, The Morning learnt, the donors had dispatched the consignment to Colombo with Etihad Airlines, paying nearly Rs. 400,000, a sum which was procured by the Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC) as an additional donation. The medicines arrived in Sri Lanka on 14 November 2022, the final day of the deadline stipulated by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA). The source further said that it is extremely unfortunate that the Sri Lankan authorities are acting in such an irresponsible manner at a time when the people are suffering due to the prevailing shortage of drugs. The donors had been forced to make an urgent decision to deliver the consignment on a paid flight, as the official approval granted by the NMRA was due to lapse on 14 November.

Speaking further, the source claimed that even after the consignment of drugs arrived in Sri Lanka on 14 November, the Health Ministry had not taken steps to receive and hand it over to the Government, which has been the practice for all other donations of medicines and medical equipment sent to Sri Lanka by Sri Lankans domiciled abroad. The source further said that the consignment of drugs, which should have been officially received and then distributed to hospitals in the Kinniya, Muttur, Thoppur, Thampalakamam and Akkaraipattu areas at the donors’ request, had been left untouched for a few days, due to the officials attending to other affairs without prioritising the donation.

It is reported that a Health Ministry official had referred, via email, the SGSL and its representative in Sri Lanka to an official at the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) and wanted them to communicate with that officer, and do the needful. However, the source questioned how this official was expected to do the needful without necessary introductions being made and the relevant documents being referred, claiming that even the email address given for the said MSD official was incorrect, and that they had had to search the correct details on the internet. “We still do not know why this happened to the consignment of drugs, and we believe that the Sri Lankan High Commission officials in Canada are behind all these acts of sabotage,” the source alleged.

Claiming that the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Canada and two of his staff members had mishandled the said donation of drugs from Canada by concerned Sri Lankans and the citizens of the community of Hamilton with the support of the HPIC, a federally approved charity in Canada, the source said that it is questionable as to why the authorities are acting in such a manner when donations received by other donor Sri Lankans domiciled overseas have been handled with much care. The source said that they hope and believe that all the efforts made by them to assist the people should not go down the drain, but should help build better relations and understanding between Canada and Sri Lanka for the benefit of the people of the two nations.

Health Ministry Co-ordinator in charge of Covid-19 and healthcare-related donor activities Dr. Anver Hamdani, when contacted by The Morning, said that he liaises with the parties that make donations of medicines or other medical supplies to Sri Lanka until the point at which such donated items are handed over to the MSD. He said that the medicines or other medical supplies sent to the MSD would then be sent to the relevant regional centres, and that then they will be distributed to the respective hospitals. 

He further said that his responsibility regarding the related donations ends from the time the donations are handed over to the MSD, but that he still attempts his best to co-ordinate and resolve matters when and if there is any issue with regard to donations, even after they are handed over to the MSD. If there is any problem regarding this particular donation, he said, the concerned parties have the ability to inform the Health Ministry Secretary with specific information about it, so that the Ministry will look into the matter.

As the country is seeing a serious economic crisis at present, the relevant authorities have, over the past few months, been finding it difficult to procure the required US dollars to import pharmaceutical drugs and other medical supplies. Although the situation has subsided to some extent due to various grants and donations from several organisations and countries, the hospitals are still affected by the shortages of drugs and medical equipment. However, the Health Ministry has been stating over the recent past that the shortage of drugs and medical equipment is not at a serious level, and that the provision of treatment can be managed.