Keheliya confirms he is in India, but fails to name pvt. Indian pharmaceutical company he is dealing with

23 December 2022 03:47 pm - 29 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who is under fire over his current visit to India, yesterday confirmed his visit and said he was with the CEO of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) and claimed his trip to India was self funded while the NMRA CEO was independently funded.

In response to the Daily Mirror article yesterday titled "Is Keheliya in India to purchase meds from private Indian company", Rambukwella confirmed that he was in India as all medicinal procurements, quality control tests must be satisfied before purchasing.

"A few weeks ago another team from the Health Ministry headed by an additional secretary & NMRA officials met with and examined the quality of medicinal products from pharmaceutical companies based in another part of India as part of this work. Once the preliminary fact-finding visit concludes & quality approvals are given by the tech experts, my job is to expedite & fast track the supply from government to government, cut through any unnecessary red tape & ensure a constant supply of quality medicines to the Sri Lankan people," the Minister said.

"As with all medicinal procurements, quality control tests must be satisfied before purchasing. I must also stress that no state funding was used for this venture, as I have funded my own travel whilst the NMRA was independently funded, & as such, added no burden to the State," he said.

However Rambukwella failed to divulge the name of the private Indian company whom he is liaising with to purchase the medicines and also failed to answer why he, as the Health Minister saw it fit to personally visit India to check the quality of the medicines.

He also failed to mention on what basis the private Indian pharmaceutical company was selected and whether this said company was NMRA approved.

He also failed to mention how many drugs was being purchased and at what price and whether these were funds used from the Indian credit line.

Rambukwella's visit to India has raised serious concerns among senior health officials here who have said they were unaware of the purpose of his visit and added that if it was to purchase medicines, then they will demand for an immediate explanation on what basis this said company was selected.

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Comments - 29

Bawa Friday, 23 December 2022 03:55 PM

What are qualifications that keheliya has to check the quality of pharmaceuticals??

kumar Saturday, 24 December 2022 06:38 AM

He is a Doctor himself. See the Ministry website. Don't under estimate Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella.

Anthony. R Friday, 23 December 2022 04:06 PM

Aney pow, how Patriotic, my foot. My guess is good as yours why,and what this fox is upto in India.

Chryshan K Friday, 23 December 2022 04:11 PM

He will not even buy a bus ticket from his funds for official work. Definitely he is upto something dirty. Checking again the medicines checked by qualified health officials. What an idiotic explanation.

Hundipala Kalangoda Friday, 23 December 2022 04:26 PM

Self-funded from stolen money! A good way to be away from people SAPA!!

Gayantha Hemachandra Friday, 23 December 2022 05:11 PM

Hope this time our Hon Minister of Health should be more careful when opening up his hotel room balcony and stepping up into adjoining room… Without stepping into other rooms you can order room service anything or anything, sir… Don’t worry, you are from Byeeyas country and Byeeyas will happily approve of paying all your bills including everything…..

Nimal R Friday, 23 December 2022 05:17 PM

This is the man who got money from the presidents fund to pay for the hospital bill in Australia when he slipped from the balcony of a hotel while trying to crossover to his private secretary's room and broke his leg. A number one corrupt.

tilak Friday, 23 December 2022 05:27 PM

he has not paid his electricity with his own funds since 2005 amounting to over Rs.15M

Buddhist Friday, 23 December 2022 05:28 PM

Collecting commission?

Ismet Zaheed Friday, 23 December 2022 05:40 PM

I hope he will not make another attempt and fall from the hotel balcony. I sent him a "get well soon" card when he fell off the balcony in Australia.

Prakash Friday, 23 December 2022 06:48 PM

Fair enough! Self funded similar to an investment you make for any returns. He is going to make BIG money from this deal.

Rip Winkle Friday, 23 December 2022 07:06 PM

Shameless thief. Barefaced liar too.

Joe Ediri Friday, 23 December 2022 08:32 PM

Are we going to pay for another balcony fall

Madakande Ranapala Saturday, 24 December 2022 02:47 AM

A big commission to invest overseas for the family!! Poor man are paying for these placebos with no value!!

Sambo Saturday, 24 December 2022 09:24 AM

The people of Sri Lanka are starving yet the minister of health is hunting for the best company he can earn a better commission.

Mike Revere Saturday, 24 December 2022 09:29 AM

Anyone believes this self funding

Waco Saturday, 24 December 2022 11:38 AM

All these parliamentarians are misusing their positional powers.

Radar Saturday, 24 December 2022 12:42 PM

Tell us what sort of a deal did you strike with this private firm to fill your personal coffers? It is obvious these political thieves will never change unless someone takes the reigns of the country and bring a law to say any form of corruption will lead to 25 years RI.

Mike Revere Saturday, 24 December 2022 01:05 PM

Radar, excellent idea to keep family life

Fast track for 20 times the price Saturday, 24 December 2022 02:16 PM

These Minister and officials will say got it fast, not divulging they paid 20 or more times usual cost for the medicines. They'll say it was airlifted not being honest about maybe 15 times usual freight/shipping cost. And biggest scam they will never mention is how all their children or wife get massive payments in their bank accounts. "I get it done fast" talk is just a ruse to make easy commission payment into bank account of family member.

Nilmini Welivita Saturday, 24 December 2022 03:05 PM

This is large scale corruption by this crook. Some of the medicines proposed are are produced in Srilanka.

Abd Sunday, 25 December 2022 05:47 AM

He seems trying import low quality drugs for higher prices and attempting to keep deal secret like Shasendra Rajapaksha’s exposed fertiliser deal

SM Sunday, 25 December 2022 02:56 PM

Why people are so worried about his trip? He would have asked for a commission which will be added to the cost of drugs and everything would be OK. What's wrong if he gets about US$500.0 million or so in the deal that will be spent in Sri Lanka? Like most other politicians he is trying to serve Sri Lanka.

Ben Sunday, 25 December 2022 07:22 PM

This unknown company seems selling low quality drugs giving substantial commission to keheliya,and he wants it fully, that may be the reason he himself involved

KR Sunday, 25 December 2022 08:38 PM

All Rajapaksas would love corrupt Ministers. It remains to be seen if the President will dare to terminate a corrupt Minister.

Vadivelu Yogaratnam Sunday, 25 December 2022 10:23 PM

This man's pass record well known to the current president with all that giving a ministerial post is a joke.

BM Monday, 26 December 2022 06:55 AM

This Minister ignored President's instructions to follow established guidelines when dealing with drug companies but secretly traveled to Chennai to discuss with a drug company obviously with corrupt intentions. Yet, the President does not dare to terminate him showing Ranil Rajapaksa is still in the pocket of Rajapaksas.

Mohamed Adham Tuesday, 27 December 2022 12:40 PM

Man who does NOT Pay his Electricity bill, now claims that he is using his personal funds for the Indian trip. Why does a MINISTER need to go and PERSONALLY inspect Medicines ??? Why the hesitation to name the Indian Pharma company, the Drugs that would be purchased, The value of the purchase and the criteria for selecting this company to supply Medicines ?? This guy is a crook and has been living off tax payer money for ever. Remember his drunken stupor fall from the Aussie hotel balcony after a fight with his mistress. The entire surgery amounting to Millions was paid by us tax payers. These are the ministers that Ranil rajapaksa keeps, to ensure that they do not become a threat to him. The whole lot should be chased away. New young guys need to be in parliament to navigate this country to the greatness it was. We are all just wasting ourselves with these old crooked robber coons.

BM Wednesday, 28 December 2022 10:03 AM

This minister earlier declared that his trip to India was self-funded, even so, it was wrong as the President wanted ministers to follow established procedures when purchasing items. Now there are reports that the Minister's trip was funded by one pharmaceutical company. That means, this minister is not only corrupt but is a liar as well. Does the President not have the backbone to terminate him?

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Keheliya confirms he is in India, but fails to name pvt. Indian pharmaceutical company he is dealing with

Comments - 29

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