Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Harsha de Silva today reached out to Sri Lanka’s wealthy businessmen and philanthropists to assist in the establishment of a free ambulance service for the public in the country.
Addressing a press briefing in Colombo, he said that four children died following a traffic collision in Bandaragama yesterday and that their mother was crying because there is no ambulance to take them.
“Why is this happening?” This is happening because there is no ambulance service in the country to take the average persons to a hospital during an emergency such as a road accident or a heart attack, he said. “We have to accept that it is the reality.”
He said that not everyone can spend millions on services from private hospitals and that the average person has no ambulance service for an emergency.
“There are a certain amount of ambulances in the country to transfer patients from one hospital to another. But there is no ambulance service to take an average person to a hospital during an emergency free of charge,” the Deputy Minister said.
De Silva said that some people have asked as to why Sri Lankan businessmen in Sri Lanka cannot do this ambulance service. “Maybe they can, but nobody did it.”
He extended an open invitation to the big businessmen and millionaires in the country to join with the government to establish an ambulance service. “Come and donate 10 ambulances each,” he said, adding, that “there is no issue with our people joining this.”
The Deputy Minister said that some people, maybe due to ignorance, have got the Indian ambulance service mixed up with the Sri Lanka’s proposed trade agreement with India (ECTA).
“There is absolutely no connection between the ambulance service and ECTA,” he emphasized.
He stated that the ambulance service was a gift by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Sri Lanka in 2015 and that the Premier donated Rs 1 billion for this purpose.
De Silva said that an agreement has been reached for a period of 1 year with the world’s largest integrated emergency ambulance service which is in India to establish this service. “What is this wrong?”
He stated that a joint committee has been appointed to monitor the ambulance service with the Director General of Health Services serving as its chairman. The ownership of all these assets including the 88 ambulances will be vested with the Ministry of Health, de Silva said.
He stated that an agreement has been reached with the Indian organization in question to obtain technical assistance for the service.
The Deputy Minister stated that the government’s aim is to minimize and if possible eradicate tragic incidents similar to yesterday’s fatal crash in Bandaragama and save the lives of the country’s average citizens.
He stated that this is a completely “friendly” action between two countries to fulfill an urgent need and that certain people are attempting to link it with the Indian intelligence agency, RAW. “Don’t say such things,” he urged critics of the move.
He stated that 4 Indian nationals will be given one year visas for the transfer of technical knowledge and that the 600 or so workers to be enrolled will only be Sri Lankans.
“We are not prepared to do politics on top of dead bodies. We want to save lives,” de Silva added.
