Officials will have to pay for carrying out illegal orders, warns JVP

By Saman Indrajith

The arrest of former Health Secretary Janaka Chandragupta over the immunoglobulin scam had proved that public officials will have to face the consequences of carrying out illegal orders from political masters, the JVP-led NPP says.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, NPP General Secretary Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe said yesterday: “The law says that every government worker must check if the orders they get from politicians are fair and make sense. They should only follow orders that feel right to them and don’t go against what they believe is right.

“We know that officials implement the orders given by politicians. But they have to act within the confines of the law. Otherwise, they must be prepared to face trouble.”

NPP National Executive Committee member and JVP former Kalutara District MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa: “People could ascertain the quality of most of the consumables they purchase from the market. They can choose and buy commodities such as coconuts, fish or clothes, but they cannot do that with regard to medicine. It is the duty of the government to ensure that citizens get the right medicine. The regulation of medicine being provided is with the government.

“There are many regulatory bodies. It has been found that 22,500 phials of substandard immunoglobulin have been purchased from last July to September and distributed among government hospitals. There have been many complaints of side-effects of this drug, especially from Colombo, Kandy and Matale hospitals. Subsequent tests found that the medicines were harmful.