23 December 2023 12:00 am Views - 133
By Ajith Siriwardana
Claiming that only a few officials of the Health Ministry could not have struck a massive deal of USD 2.5 million when importing substandard Immunoglobulin injections without any involvement of the subject minister, the National People’s Power (NPP) reiterated yesterday that former health minister Keheliya Rambukwella must be interrogated regarding the incident.
Former NPP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa told a news conference that Minister Rambukwella must have given at least oral instructions if not for written instructions regarding the import.
“We heard that several health ministry officials under arrest have said that the import was made with the instructions of Minister Rambukwella. We know that several officials alone cannot do a transaction of this nature. It is a massive deal of USD 2.5 million. This supplier also is not someone who is capable of handling a massive deal of this amount. He is a blacklisted supplier,” he said.
Dr. Jayatissa questioned why the CID was so late to record a statement from Minister Rambukwella regarding the incident, adding that the minister may know much about the deal.
“If the investigations into this fraud were conducted properly, it would lead to the disclosure of more deals connected to this. I am sure this investigation, if properly done, will be an eye-opener to initiate investigations into many more former health ministers.