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| Saturday, 20 March 2004 |
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by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday decided to suspend their trade union action after an extensive discussion with Finance Minister K.N. Choksy. The GMOA announced that the Government has accepted that the salary circular issued by the Health Ministry had caused an injustice not only to doctors but also to all Government servants. "It was also agreed to hold a full powered formal inquiry with the approval of the Cabinet against health officials who were responsible for the present salary anomaly," a GMOA spokesman added. Following the discussion, a committee headed by K. C. Logeswaran was appointed to look into the salary anomalies of public servants. The committee will commence its work by March 26 giving special emphasis to the health sector. This newly-appointed Public Sector Salary Review Committee will also review the demands made by health sector trade unions. Logeswaran is the former Sri Lankan Ambassador in Korea. He earlier functioned as the Secretary, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication and Media and is presently Advisor to the Minister of Finance. The other Members of the Committee are N. H. Pathirana, G. Sathkunanathan, Dr. A. M. Beligahawatte and W. R. Piyasena. It was also agreed that the Government will take steps to abolish the controversial circular 01-02/2004 if any necessity arises according to the recommendation of the committee. "Accordingly, we have decided to suspend our trade union action and we call upon all the members to report to work," the spokesman added. However, the GMOA's Action Committee is scheduled to meet on March 26 to review the situation and progress of the measures to be taken with regard to their salary anomaly. On Thursday night, the GMOA's action committee meeting discussed the issue for nearly four hours. The doctors' strike entered its ninth day yesterday paralysing the public health sector as the striking doctors stopped admissions to the Kalubowila, Ragama and Kurunegala Hospitals. However, the GMOA did not further escalate the strike following the successful discussion with the Finance Ministry. The doctors' strike which commenced last Thursday took a serious turn as the GMOA stopped all admissions to three main hospitals. However, the GMOA claimed that patients in need of emergency treatment were admitted to the hospital. Normal services at Government hospitals were greatly affected due to the doctors' strike with all routine operations and clinical services coming to a standstill. President calls for report President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga yesterday directed Health Minister P. Dayaratne to provide a report on the strike launched by Government doctors. In a letter to the Health Minister, the President had asked him to submit a report focusing on three matters. They are: Reasons that have led the Medical Officers to resort to strike action, what action has been taken by the Health Ministry/Government so far to resolve this issue and the suggestions of the Minister for a solution to this problem that is affecting the public very seriously. The GMOA in a press release issued yesterday expressed their gratitude to the President for her direct intervention to rectify the salary anomaly faced by the Government Medical Officers. The GMOA is scheduled to meet the President on Monday for a discussion. |
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