26 June 2021 02:05 am Views - 315
A total of 13 million people could be vaccinated by the end of September this year, addressing the nation President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said yesterday.
The President said “We can vaccinate almost everyone over the age of 30 by that time.
This is a very satisfactory situation.” The President also said Sri Lanka has received a total of 4,494,000 vaccine doses so far and that the vaccination drive is being carried out successfully in all provinces of the country. “We have received 1,264,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 3.1 million Sinopharm vaccine doses, and 130,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. In July, 4 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine and 2.5 million doses of Sinovac are expected to be received. In addition, arrangements have also been made to obtain 2 million Sputnik V doses, 5 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine, and2.5 million doses of Sinovac in August.
We will be getting down 3 million more Sinopharm vaccine doses in September,” he stated. Meanwhile, the President said since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in the country, the government had spent over Rs. 260 billion to provide relief to the people. Commenting on the debate over chemical fertilizers, he said the use of chemical fertilizers introduced to this country about 45 years ago has become a major social threat to our country. “Prior to the implementation of the organic fertilizer use, stocks of fertilizer required for the forthcoming season had been imported. Already 300,000 metric tons of fertilizer required for 1 and 1/2 million hectares of cultivated land has been distributed. At the same time, about 8,000 metric tons of organic fertilizer has been distributed. The Government guarantees that all organic fertilizer required for farming will be provided for the forthcoming Maha Season,” the President said.
Meanwhile, the President added that they had made great strides in ensuring national security once again and said the most suitable officers were appointed to responsible positions. “We have re-strengthened the morals of the security forces which had deteriorated owing to harassments. The intelligence services that were weak at that time have been reorganised. We have reactivated the security plans that were abandoned during the previous government’s tenure,” he stated. “We successfully contained the underworld which was becoming a major threat to the country. Although difficult to solve at once, the drug menace has been largely brought under control,” the President added. Meanwhile, the President said a total of 1,000 schools would be elevated to national schools in addition to the existing 373 national schools. “These schools have already been identified and at least three schools in each Divisional Secretariat division have been re-classified as National Schools and funds have been allocated to improve their facilities and standards,” he said. “At the same time, 60,000 urban houses and 200,000 rural houses will be constructed. Our plan also includes 40,000 estate houses and rental houses. More than 20,000 of these houses are under construction.
Another 10,000 will be constructed before the end of this year, “Construction work has commenced on building 3,000 flat units for middle income earners. Under the ‘One house per one village’ programme, 14,000 rural houses are being constructed, “As another step towards eradicating poverty among the rural population, the programme to provide cultivable lands to landless families is progressing very successfully. So far more than 20,000 families have been given an acre of land.