Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister Richard Bathiudeen and the Deputy Ambassador of Netherlands Eva van Woersem were also present at the event. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for the construction of the proposed cardiology and renal diseases treatment unit of the hospital. The Government of The Netherlands has provided Rs. 600 million for this project.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is on a three day official visit to Jaffna and scheduled to open a number of development projects completed recently during the visit. Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said the Government plans to take a number of measures in the near future to extend the work done by the present government for the development of Vavuniya and the Vanni region.
Mr. Wickremesinghe emphasized that the government had given priority to spending more money on education and health and it was an investment for the present generation.The Prime Minister also revealed that the construction of the Malwathu Oya Reservoir which will benefit the Rajarata and the Vanni areas will commence next week.
Addressing the gathering, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said that it was under this government that the Free Health Service was properly defined.The Health Minister added that the Government has allocated funds for the cancer and heart disease patients to receive treatments free of charge eliminating their economic problems.
Tamil National Alliance MP S. Sivamohan, Director of the Vavuniya District Hospital Dr. Nanda Kumaran, former Northern Province Health Minister Dr. Sathyalingam, Secretary to the Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs V. Sivagnanasothy, Prime Minister's Secretary Saman Ekanayake and other state officials and politicians were also present.