Minister’s wrath on ‘sleeping diplomats’

Nadira Gunatilleke

Sri Lankan diplomats attached to Sri Lankan missions abroad are having a good time in those countries. They do not carry out any service to their motherland. They teach English to their children and live a luxurious life there, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.

Minister Sirisena said that these diplomats should have done a better service. “If they did, Sri Lanka would have been at a higher position at international level today. The London protest was carried out by pro-LTTE elements because Sri Lankan diplomats attached to Sri Lankan foreign missions abroad were inactive, lazy and ignorant.”

He was speaking at a ceremony held at his office yesterday.

Minister Sirisena pointed out that some diplomats go abroad to get a foreign education for their children but Sri Lankan public has to bear the cost. “Sri Lankans here do not know the luxuries these diplomats enjoy. Everyone in a diplomatic mission receive free facilities. It is public money that those diplomats spend for their personal benefit,” he added.

Some women in Sri Lankan missions abroad had spent millions of rupees on fertility treatment.

Those women got babies in foreign hospitals after spending millions of rupees belonging to the Sri Lankan public. They are entirely public funds. It is time for the Government to re-think about keeping these ‘sleeping diplomats’ in our foreign missions,” the Minister added.