5 May 2021 12:06 pm Views - 2383
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa today stressed that the government would not direct funds allocated to fight the COVID-19 to be used for any other projects.
He told Parliament that the Finance Minister had allocated all required funds to the COVID-19 prevention tasks.
He said this responding to a statement made by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who said that Rs. 600 million proposed to be allocated by the Cabinet to set up gyms island-wide, should be used for COVID-19 prevention measures.
Minister Rajapaksa said the funds of the COVID fund or any other funds meant for COVID prevention would not be used for setting up of the gym units.
“Funds allocated from the Budget will be used for this project. However, we will only do the procurement process at the moment. Funds will not be spent right now,” he said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)