ශ්‍රී ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරිය ‘අත්‍යවශ්‍ය සේවාවක්’ ලෙස ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කරමින් රජය විසින් අඟහරුවාදා රාත්‍රියේ ගැසට් පත්‍රයක් නිකුත් කරන ලදී. කොළඹ

Ministerial changes on the cards New measures to keep food supply chains working Police may come under a new Ministry Political dynamics in the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Nidahas Peramuna (SLPNS) have shown signs of a dramatic change. This turn portends the dawn of a fresh collective thrust in governance with new faces and a newer approach. It dawned last Sunday when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, now entering the first year in office, chaired a meeting of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 Prevention. This was in the wake of an uncontrollable spread of positive cases and the fast depleting capacity at medical institutions to hold them. Already cases for quarantine are being confined to the homes. Telephone numbers have been publicised so they could call hospitals for emergency attention if their cases turn positive or worsen. A visit by a doctor will determine the necessity of hospitalisation. That reflects the seriousness of the situation. Sadly, in the country’s political spectrum there is hardly any debate over issues related to Covid-19 prevention. The only exception was the one in Parliament two weeks ago where the contributions did not help over ongoing issues. One is not sure whether countermeasures in other parts of the world were factored in when local steps were taken. It does not seem to be so. Another is the debate over the efficacy of PCR testing. A rapid antigen test is to be now carried out from next week. Supplies have been airlifted for this purpose in a special flight. The task force for prevention of the deadly disease is now being carried out by the military together with the health authorities. It is solely under the charge of acting Chief of Defence Staff (and Army Commander) Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva. His men have been coordinating with the health authorities. They have been overseeing all matters related to the campaign to prevent the spread of the deadly disease and lockdowns in several areas. Since the first outbreak in March, they have fought a hard battle to keep those affected to levels below 3,500 and enforced tough quarantine procedures. The airport remains closed and thousands of Sri Lankans overseas are unable to return. Then, government officials lamented that the world had not taken cognisance of Sri Lanka’s success in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.Alas, the explosions at the Brandix garments factory in Minuwangoda, followed by the Peliyagoda fish market, are snowballing everywhere. Official accounts have stopped making references to Brandix and list victims only as cases from quarantine centres. The argument is that those linked to the garment factory at Minuwangoda have been moved to quarantine centres. It was earlier named officially as the “Brandix cluster.” Yet, the reference to the “Peliyagoda cluster” continues. The only reference to Brandix this week was from Attorney General Dappula de Livera. He asked acting Police Chief Chandana Wickremeratne to let him know whether a new team has been constituted to probe Brandix. This was after reports that some Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) officers who were tasked to probe were afflicted by Covid-19. He had thereafter asked the acting Police chief to re-constitute the team.