A ceremony to rank and evaluate food service establishments in and around Polonnaruwa city was held under the patronage of Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, with the objective of improving food safety standards.
Speaking at the event, the Speaker emphasized that in the 40-year history of Parliament, its kitchen facilities have never been subjected to inspection by public health inspectors.
He remarked:
“We have now inspected the kitchens of food processing establishments in the Polonnaruwa district. I recently revisited a kitchen — but where do you think it was? The kitchen of the Sri Lankan Parliament itself.
It has been forty years since the establishment of Parliament, and during this entire period, no public health inspector or medical officer has ever been allowed to enter the premises to inspect food preparation areas. Parliament was practically functioning as a separate state.
I wrote to the Ministry of Health and requested that the Battaramulla Health Officer and public health inspectors inspect the Parliament complex. They conducted the inspection and submitted a report, which I presented to our House Committee.
After reading that report, I personally stopped eating certain items, such as salads. I am sure both government and opposition members were equally concerned after learning the findings.”
The Speaker further revealed alarming details about the state of the Parliament kitchen:
“There were places where rats had been. There were places where cockroaches had been. The floor was broken and moldy. Cooking pots were bent, twisted, and blackened along the edges. When you actually see these conditions, you realize why this information is no longer being hidden from the media. I expect that these findings will soon reach the public domain.
Parliament is considered the supreme institution — the place where laws are made. Imagine if a special bill, even one passed by a two-thirds majority, was overshadowed by the fact that MPs were hungry or dissatisfied because of unhygienic conditions. That would be a serious issue.
This is the reality we live in. When the inspections were finally conducted, the officials themselves were very pleased with the outcome. That is why, these days, I am being told many stories by various parties — including the public health inspectors.”
