Image: Throughout the pandemic, the state has disposed of bodies and not released them to families. PHOTO: EPA-EFE/www.straitstimes.com/
According to current reports, more than 75% of COVID-19 deaths are of the persons over the age of 60. In view of this situation, the World Health Organization requested that a national vaccination program be developed in each country.
The World Health Organization provided guidelines for such a programme. Accordingly, the experts of our country came together and prepared a national program for Sri Lanka and handed it over to the World Health Organization.
According to that programme first priority in vaccination should be given to the health staff. Next are people with various complications and citizens over 60 years of age. However, rejecting this program and the recommendations of experts, the government decided to vaccinate those between the ages of 30-60.
The president is not humble. He is not ready to listen to the other. Hitler’s mind was not ready to listen to the reports of the officers in charge of the troops during Hitler’s final defeat. Hitler only wanted to listen to the statements he liked..
We would like to know who is behind this policy change. Even Minister Sudarshani Fernandopulle was not aware of this change. Today, even vaccinations is done on a distorted plan.
Ignoring the recommendations of the World Health Organization and other experts, the government led by the President is playing a deadly game.
But for his safety the President has restricted the number of employees of his secretariat.
The authorities are distorting accurate data and information that can project Covid-19 tendencies. No citizen of this country trusts the data on Covid-19 deaths and infections provided by the authorities. The most serious thing is that the predictions made on this distorted data are wrong.
That is why more than 150 people die every day at present.
How much does one death or one event from the plague affect their families, relatives, and loved ones? Even a normal death can be devastating. To get rid of sorrow, we regularly seek help through rituals, including religious observances.
But today the adults who took care of sons and daughters for 30-40 years are dying. Even their place of cremation is not known.
Government Medical Officers’ Association say that 80% of these people could have been saved if the proposals put forward by them had been implemented. If so, 80% of these deaths are due to negligence. They are homicides. The President is responsible for these indirect homicides.
There are number of instances that the President made wrong decisions in the face of this catastrophe. The right decisions was not made at the right time. There have been a number of reasons for keeping the country open. One is until the passage of the 20th Amendment, another one is until the passage of the Port City Act etc.
Even if action is taken today according to the recommendations given by expert groups at this particular moment, the results will reduce deaths and infections in 10 days or so. So far, hundreds of people are dying from wrong decision making of the president.
Aren’t these murders? Isn’t the President responsible for that? The President cannot absolve himself of responsibility for these massacres.
Even the Government Medical Officers’ Association, a member of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 Prevention, reports that the daily death toll has exceeded 250.
A very dangerous information was revealed at the Gampaha District Development Committee meeting. The health department had informed that 12,555 cases of infections were reported from 1st to 9th August.
However, only 3529 infected people have been revealed in official government documents. 8,326 patients have not been taken to the final reports. This is three times as many as the official record. This situation was also reported from the Badulla District and the Eastern Province.
We would like to know whether the President thinks of hiding the data and escaping the disaster. A ruling party MP himself had stated that there was a deadly data distortion.
It is clear that citizens, health organizations and professional’s organizations in this country do not agree with the President’s actions. It seems sometimes even the Prime Minister and the Cabinet do not agree with him.
An individual along with the Army Commander is playing a deadly game endangering the lives of all the citizens of our country.
The president is not humble. He is not ready to listen to the other. Hitler’s mind was not ready to listen to the reports of the officers in charge of the troops during Hitler’s final defeat. Hitler only wanted to listen to the statements he liked.
Today, those who express what he dislike are expelled. That is how Pavithra was silenced in the cabinet. No official is presenting information before the President today. That is the ignorance of the ignorant.
The President cannot be absolved of responsibility for this catastrophe. The ruler of the country in this this particular moment is President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. With the passage of the 20th Amendment, he has attained the monopoly power.
Today those powers are not used to save people from death. All those powers are been used to push the people towards death. The President is no longer responsible for the lives of the citizens of this country.
He lives in his own cocoon and lives in a dream world. He does not hear and listen the catastrophe taking place in the country.
As a result, the citizens of this country are experiencing the consequences. As a party we ask the citizens of this country not to expect your security from this ruler or this administration. If a president can stay inactive like this when hundreds are dying daily what kind of ignorant is he?
Take your health safety to your own hands. Be safe. Give this massage to others.
(A summarised translation of a speech made by Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Sinhala.)