Ministers in the dark over possible massage laws?

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

A day after the Ayurveda Department said that new laws would soon be drafted and presented to Cabinet to prevent men from massaging women and women from massaging men in spas, two Ministers reacted in Parliament yesterday saying no such laws had been drafted.  

Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella and State Minister of Indigenous Medicine Sisira Jayakody told Parliament that no such laws had been drafted while Rambukwella even went as far as to blame the media for getting its facts wrong.   

“We have repeatedly stressed that the media should be more responsible in reporting but this request has been neglected by the media. Anyone will be able to insult another if this trend of irresponsible reporting is continued,” Rambukwella lashed out.  

However while Rambukwella was quick as usual to blame the media while Jayakody was also quick to dismiss it, both ministers failed to realize that the Ayurveda Department however had informed multiple journalists on Monday that such laws were being drafted and would soon be presented to Cabinet for its approval and only after it is approved would it become law.   
The Department also said that such a decision was taken to prevent the functioning of brothels under the guise of Ayurveda spas.