The COPE team included Chairman Sunil Handunetti, Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake, Parliamentarians Asoka Abeysinghe, Hector Appuhamy and G. Srineshan.

Sunil Handunetti MP speaking to the media revealed that the COPE had received a tip-off on the existence of outdated drugs at the warehouse.

“We found a large stock of outdated drugs. In addition, the medicinal drugs at the ware house had been stored in an unsafe manner,” he added.

Hadunetti said the COPE had unearthed a number of malpractices at the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation when inquiring into its affairs.

“Immediate steps are needed to rectify these anomalies. This is totally unacceptable. The wastage is enormous and it is an injustice on the public as well as who depend on the state sponsored health care,” he said.

Hadunetti also called for stringent measures when importing drugs while noting that during the last several years outdated medicines worth over Rs. one billion has been destroyed.

“Another Rs. 300 million worth of outdated drugs have been sidelined,” he revealed.

The JVP MP said that some of the outdated drugs found at the location was to be dispatched to state hospitals. He went on to reveal that there was only one officer at the warehouse, authorised to release drugs and called it as totally unacceptable.

Later the COPE team also visited a factory belonging to the State Engineering Corporation at Peliyagoda.

(Lionel Perera - dailynews.lk)