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Only 6% of Covid fund utilised up to 31 January

06 May 2021

According to information gathered by publicfinance.lk, as of 31 January, the Government has spent only Rs. 105 million from the Itukama Covid-19 fund balance, which amounts to just 6% of the total Itukama fund balance. Publicfinance.lk, a platform for public finance related information and analysis in Sri Lanka, obtained this information in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request filed with the Presidential Secretariat. The total Itukama fund balance stood at Rs. 1,727 million as of 31 January. The breakdown of the utilised 6% (Rs. 105 million) is as follows: PCR testing – Rs. 42.6 million Quarantine facilities – Rs. 38 million Advocacy programme – Rs. 24.4 million The official website for the “Itukama” fund states that a total of Rs. 1,693,475,780 has been raised so far, while Rs. 1,306,524,220 is yet to be raised. A press release by the President’s office in July 2020 stated that Rs. 36,605,812 from the fund was allocated to the Ministry of Health to carry out essential polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. It further states that Rs. 34,105,812 from the fund is to be spent to purchase test kits for the PCR tests conducted by the University of Sri Jayewardenepura at the request of the Ministry of Health. A further Rs. 2.5 million has been allocated to purchase emergency and essential laboratory equipment with the aim of increasing the capacity of PCR tests conducted by the University of Jaffna. Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian S.M. Marikkar questioned in Parliament on 5 May about the utilisation of the Itukama fund, stating that the Parliament was not informed about it. He questioned as to whether vaccines and medicines had been purchased through the fund, adding that Israel, a country roughly the size of Sri Lanka, had already carried out a mass vaccination programme to overcome the pandemic. The Lawyers’ Forum for the People Co-Convenor and Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera also alleged that there is a lack of transparency surrounding the “Itukama” fund.  

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