Sri Lanka’s 1990 Suwa Seriya ambulance service today (July 28) celebrates a decade since its first vehicle was flagged off at Galle Face in 2016.
Opposition MP Harsha de Silva, who spearheaded the initiative, said that the free ambulance service was launched amidst heavy protest from the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) and certain political groups.
In a post on ‘X’, Harsha de Silva noted that the service has since grown into the country’s most loved and efficient public service, now attending to around 1,000 incidents daily and covering nearly 30,000 kilometres every day.
He expressed gratitude to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for backing the project, and to the people of India for the initial USD 23 million grant that helped turn the idea into reality.
Harsha de Silva credited the vision and technological innovation of the board led by Dumindra Ratnayake, and the execution by more than 1,500 staff under CEO Dr. Sohan De Silva, for building Suwa Seriya into a service that can deliver a “fully equipped micro hospital” to any doorstep in under 13 minutes on average.
He also extended best wishes to the new management appointed last year by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, urging them to continue and improve on this life‑saving service.
“May 1990 Suwa Seriya continue to serve the people of this country for generations to come,” de Silva added. (Newswire)