UTV | COLOMBO – The Frontline Socialist Party has charged that the government did not take appropriate measures when the coronavirus was first detected in the country.
Speaking during a rally in Horana, General Secretary of the party Kumar Gunaratnam said the virus spread in the country as the government acted with the election in mind.
He said the first coronavirus patient was detected in the country in January and political parties, civil society groups, health officials and doctors subsequently called for safety measures to be taken to contain the spread.
Kumar Gunaratnam noted that when factions raised concerns, the President dismissed them claiming only 28 patients had been detected at the time.
Gunaratnam said the President had claimed that he did not close the country even when 5,000 people died daily during the war, and therefore he would not shut the economy after the detection of 28 coronavirus patients.
He said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is responsible for the citizens of the country, dismissed the concern and failed to take appropriate measures.
General Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party Kumar Gunaratnam noted that Parliament was dissolved on the 2nd of March even when the World Health Organization had repeatedly issued five warnings claiming it could develop into a global pandemic.
Therefore, Kumar Gunaratnam opined that the President should be held responsible for the increase in coronavirus infections in the country.