Healthcare workers have claimed that they have not been provided fuel despite the government having announced that 74 fuel stations have been allocated across the country to provide fuel specifically for health sector workers every Friday.
They said that the owners of several of the allocated fuel stations are unaware of the system and are continuing to provide fuel to other people as well.
Thereby, healthcare workers have been forced to wait in fuel queues for several hours, while some are yet to receive fuel.
They said this has hampered the operations of several hospitals in the country, including the Colombo National Hospital and the Apeksha Cancer Hospital.
Doctors and healthcare workers are reportedly waiting in queues and have reported to duty after requesting a fellow citizen also in the queue to look after the vehicle, while they return back to the queue after work hours.
Secretary to the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Haritha Aluthge said several healthcare workers have been forced to wait in queues despite being allocated specific fuel stations due to the failure to successfully implement the system.
He further said if the government fails to implement the system properly by this week or next then it will result in a collapse of the health sector. (NewsWire)
Hi @kanchana_wij and @Keheliya_R now it's 3.30pm hope you see this! We health care workers are in this fuel que 'dedicated for health staff' since 4am. The petrol bowser is still to arrive here. A liver transplant surgeon in the que had to visit a patient awaiting transplant.🤷🏼♂️ pic.twitter.com/2D6H4NDOFB
— Rajeev Menon 🇱🇰 (@rajeevmenonsl) June 24, 2022