Former Minister Harin Fernando says he does not believe that the former Cabinet could be held responsible for the importation of inferior Immune Globulin vaccines.
Speaking to the media, Harin Fernando said that on a daily basis between 60-70 Cabinet papers are submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers.
He further revealed that the Cabinet papers are created by the relevant ministry secretaries and given to the subject minister, who in turn presents it to the Cabinet.
Harin Fernando said, thereafter, the Finance Ministry issued recommendations, which was the standard procedure, adding that the rest of the Cabinet Ministers cannot be held accountable.
The former Minister made the remarks after arriving at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) today to record a statement concerning the importation of inferior Immune Globulin vaccines during the tenure of Keheliya Rambukwella as Health Minister.
Former ministers Ramesh Pathirane, Roshan Ranasinghe, and Prasanna Ranatunga reported to the CID yesterday about approving the Cabinet paper presented by Keheliya Rambukwella for this purpose.
On 11 November, the CID informed the Maligakantha Magistrate’s Court that statements would be obtained from 18 ministers, who represented the Cabinet led by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the time, regarding the approval of the Cabinet paper submitted by Keheliya Rambukwella.
Earlier this year, several Health Ministry officials, including Keheliya Rambukwella, were arrested and remanded after the CID launched an investigation into allegations that a pharmaceutical company had imported 22,500 vials of substandard Immune Globulin vaccines by creating forged documents with the assistance of the two senior state officials.
Investigations revealed that financial fraud of Rs. 130 million had occurred via the imports of the said substandard medicine, under the tenure of Keheliya Rambukwella as Health Minister.
Keheliya Rambukwella, who was remanded over the incident, was granted bail by the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court after being in remand custody for nearly 07 months. (Newswire)
