East West Properties PLC donates Rs 13 Million to Army and Sri Jayawardenapura General Hospital.

East West Properties PLC, whose majority shareholders include Nahil Wijesuriya and his children made a donation of Rs 8.5 Million to the Army Welfare Fund to help complete the conversion of a ward at the Mulleriyawa District Hospital for Covid-19 Infected Persons. A further Rs 4.5 Million has been spent on the purchase of a PCR Detection System Machine for COVID-19 Testing.

Mrs. Anika Wijesuriya Jayawickreme, Director and Shareholder of EWP said that, “with the help of Mrs Bharathi Wijeratne, Dr Naomali Amarasena, Cardiologist, Sri Jayewardenapura General Hospital and Dr. Janaki Abeynayake, Consultant Virologist at the Medical Research Institute, we were able to source a machine from Singapore that would allow for testing to begin at Sri Jayawardenapura General Hospital.

The SJG Hospital is a designated Government testing facility for COVID-19 however it does not have a machine at the moment for testing. Our purchase of this machine will certainly help the intiative to test more of the general public. My understanding is that there is still a dire need for more PCR Machines at the Medical Research Institute, Teaching Hospital Karapitiya and Teaching Hospital Anurudhapura should companies in the private sector want to assist further in donating machines. Testing is an essential part of the fight against COVID-19 as low numbers don’t necessarily mean there are fewer cases, it may just be attributed to not enough testing.”

She also mentioned that most of the quotes she received were from agents of US Companies. With the increase of COVID-19 cases in the US, brands from the US have restricted sales to other countries, as priority of supply is to the United States. Due to reduced machine supply, prices have gone up.