Commenting on the government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis, the UNP said that the government had not prioritized altering public health laws in order to better manage the health crisis, but instead had given priority to the Port City Economic Commission Bill.
These comments were made by the Chairman of the UNP Vajira Abeywardana while speaking at a press briefing held on Monday (24). He stressed that while other countries have taken prompt measures to amend their laws to manage the health crisis efforts had been made to amend quarantine laws, and therefore Sri Lanka was lagging behind.
Abeywardana also highlighted that the government’s move to restrict health officials from sharing real statistics related to Covid-19, was reprehensible.
The UNP has made recommendations requesting the government to:
- provide a risk allowance of Rs. 25,000 for frontline workers involved in managing the health crisis
- introduce a life insurance scheme worth Rs. 2.5 MN to compensate the families of those who succumb to the virus
- Introduce a life insurance policy that will grant a sum of Rs. 5 million to the families of Government employees who succumb to COVID-19 while engaged in frontline work.
He also pointed out that despite repeated requests to have a broader discussion on the Port City Bill, the government decided to pass the bill in a hasty manner, completely ignoring all such requests. He said that the CPC will fail to attract investors in the long run,due to the weak framework upon which the bill is based.
Speaking with regards to vehicular restrictions during curfew periods, UNP Working Committee member Dinouk Colombage said that the UNP approved the implementation of travel restrictions to contain the pandemic. However, he raised questions as to whether such decisions were based on existing laws of the country, or based on whims and fancies of state officials.
