Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said he had not been informed of the impending doctor’s strike on Friday.
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) on Monday declared that they would launch an island-wide strike in protest on Friday (7) over the government’s inaction to resolve the issues surrounding the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM).
They alleged that the government has not acted upon the recommendations put forward by the Deans of the Universities.
“There was a letter sent to the President with copies to me which stated that the GMOA has met trade unions and all of them have agreed to trade union action regarding SAITM. They further explained that there was risk of this trade union action being taken during the first week of April but they were open for discussions in the meantime,” the minister said.
He added that he did not want to intervene in the process and would wait for the due process to decide on by the Sri Lanka Medical Council. The report on the minimum standards that need to be followed, according to the minister is to be submitted to him on April 7. The GMOA in the meantime has said 150 trade unions are to take part in the strike.