JVP flays govt. for making families of COVID-19 victims pay for coffins

… asks why Rs 1,640 mn in the relief fund cannot be used for that purpose

By Saman Indrajith

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday accused the government of not using money in the COVID-19 fund to cremate the victims of the pandemic.

Participating in the third reading debate on budget 2021, MP Dissanayake asked the government why the monies in the COVID-19 relief fund were not being utilised properly at least to provide relief to those affected by the pandemic.

MP Dissanayake said: “When a COVID-19 patient dies, the body is not handed over to the family for final rites. It is cremated by the hospital authorities. Now, the authorities ask the families of victims to pay for the coffins. Families have been asked to provide coffins or pay Rs. 20,000 each. How fair is this? Most of these families are living in lockdown areas. Many of them are under quarantine. Most of them have lost their livelihoods. The government must not impose any more burdens on these hapless people.”

Dissanayake said that there was Rs. 1,640 million in the COVID-19 relief fund by Sept 30. “According to the government, Rs. 100 million has been allocated for conducting PCR tests on the public, but only Rs. 42 million have been actually spent for the purpose. Another Rs. 100 million has been allocated for COVID-19 awareness programmes. But only Rs. 24 million has been spent for that. Rs. 268 million has been spent to develop the slaboratory facilities at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and to develop the Rapid Test Kits at Sri Lanka Nanotechnology Institute. Why does the government keep a huge amount of money donated by the public? Why cannot the government establish a mechanism to provide coffins for the pandemic victims?”