Sri Jayewardenapura Hospital Bleeds At The Rate Of Rs 4 Million A Day

JUNE 30, 2018

Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital (SJGH) currently run by a Board of Directors chaired by Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage who is an infamous acolyte of the Rajapaksa Regime as well as the current Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne, is running the hospital at a whopping loss of 4 million rupees a day, Colombo Telegraph can reveal today.

Kahandaliyanage’s career is tainted by securing a politically crafted appointment as the Director General Health Services which was contested in courts. He was also scandalously removed from a full time course at the PGIM for pretending to be present while working at his station. He then rose to the ranks of Secretary Ministry of Health through pure servitude during the infamous tenure of Nimal Siripala De Silva. Kahandaliyange to whom securing, protecting and protracting illegal appointments is a second nature has been the guardian angel of Dr. Susitha Senaratne, political acolyte and stooge of Rajitha Senaratne who has been illegally occupying the office of Director Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital since 26th March 2015. 

Dr Susitha Sebaratne, Dr Athula Kahandaliyanage, and Rajith Senaratne

Wool over the eyes of the law

The Board of Directors consisting of noted professionals have been instrumental in putting wool over the eyes of the law since 2015 by supporting Kahandaliyanage in this massive administrative irregularity as they too are acolytes of Rajitha Senaratne. With the exception of the three specialists who represent the interest of the hospital at the Board, no other member has protested this illegal appointment which is costing the hospital stupendous loss of  revenue in the form of spendings and bribes to Susitha Senaratne. 

Susitha Senaratne is intricately involved in the Procurement Process of SJGH and is illegally sitting at the Procurement Committee in his non appointed state. He is in the habit of determining TEC members appointed although it is the duty of the Chairman Procurement Committee, Kahandaliyanage to do so. Senaratne habitually interferes with the technical evaluation process by summoning servile member and dictating TEC reports. These include the maintenance engineer Victor who was found guilty of massive financial fraud through a disciplinary inquiry but was kept scot free for future use. It’s a small wonder that the hapless medical officer Senaratne who came only with his medical officer’s salary to SJGH bought a BMW 5X within one year of office. He crashed this vehicle in to a wall of the hospital and was found in a semi-conscious stupor. He neither paid damages to the hospital nor was an inquiry ordered by Kahandaliyanage. Instead Senaratne was promptly flown to Singapore ‘for medical treatment’ accompanied by Dr Upul Gunasekera, the PR officer of Rajitha Senaratne and close friend of Senaratne, spending public money. Photograph depicting their journey to Singapore below show no reasonable signs of life threatening illness of Senaratne to be air lifted to Singapore.

The quasi Director and the Chairman are in the habit of doctoring and manipulating Board minutes to give the illusion that the hospital is financially well off when the numbers tell a stark and different story.

It is also reliably reported to Colombo Telegraph that without bribing Senaratne no payment is processed at SJGH. If the hospital is doing well financially why is there a 50 million rupee delay in  making the payments for the suppliers of SJGH? This is due to the fact that unless interim bribes are paid to Senaratne no payment reaches the suppliers. In fact a supplier of building works reported to Colombo Telegraph stating “we are tired of paying bribes to the Director and the maintenance engineer. We will never ever look in the direction of SJGH again for another tender”. 

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