The Public Health Inspectors’ Union of Sri Lanka will launch an island-wide trade union action from 8 a.m. today (24), protesting the transfer of a Public Health Inspector attached to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) Health Office.
The union said the action follows the transfer of PHI B.H. Meegasdeniya, who it claims was transferred after raising objections to alleged irregularities at the airport health office.
According to the union, the relevant authorities had previously been informed of the matter, but the Ministry of Health had failed to provide a satisfactory solution.
As part of the trade union action, PHIs across the country will suspend the submission of all data and reports to the administration and stop updating official data systems.
The union warned that data withheld during the trade union action would not be entered into the relevant systems retrospectively once the action ends.
The union is demanding the immediate cancellation of what it describes as the arbitrary transfer of Meegasdeniya and a fair investigation into the circumstances surrounding the decision.
It has also raised concerns over reported attempts to reduce the approved cadre of PHIs attached to the Colombo Port Health Office and the BIA Health Office.
However, the union said it was prepared to fully cooperate with an impartial investigation into the issues raised and remained open to discussions with the authorities at any time.
