COPA directs Health Ministry to probe harmful substances in food, coconut oil

State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, MPs Tissa Attanayake and Harini Amarasuriya at the COPA meeting

The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) yesterday instructed officials of the Ministry of Health to conduct a comprehensive investigation as regards harmful substances found in food including coconut oil.

COPA Chairman Prof. Tissa Vitharana said that the Ministry was vested with powers to do so. The laboratory facilities to test food should be improved and the laws on food safety amended and strengthened urgently, the Minister added.

State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, the former COPA Chairman, pointed out that as there was no coordination among laboratories that tested food, unscrupulous elements exploited loopholes.

These observations were made when the Committee reviewed the Auditor General’s Report of the Ministry of Health for the year 2017/2018.

MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya pointed out that cosmetics imported into the country contained highly toxic chemicals and the Committee agreed that it was very important to set up a stringent regulatory mechanism as regards importation of beauty products. The Committee then instructed the officials of the Ministry of Health to take immediate action in that regard.

The COPA also found that the Ministry had allocated Rs. 346 million to support various research projects in 2017 and approved Rs. 399 million on 34 research; the majority of proposals were by a single person.

The Committee also found that 224 biometric attendance machines had been purchased by the Ministry in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 31.71 million,But those machines had not been used.