SAITM Parents’ Assn. convener requests inquiry into protest

The convener of the Malabe Private Medical College Parents’ Association, Gamunu Wijeratne yesterday said they had sent a letter to the Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa requesting him to inquire into the protest that was held near the Parliament premises by university students last week.

He said this protest was organised by the Inter-University Students’ Federation and they had made false allegations about the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). He said these students are handled by some extremist political parties who are using government university students to accomplish their political expectations. He noted that these extremist political parties had a connection with the LTTE and now they want to support them through government university students. Further he said that if the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) fails to register the SAITM campus, they are going to fast near the SLMC. He said the SAITM campus is providing good facilities and better quality in This protest was organised by the InterUniversity Students’ Federation and they had made false allegations about the SAITM. their service. He said the SAITM campus is already a legal campus and the SLMC have to grant their approval and further said legal action will be taken against those parties that made false allegations about SAITM.

Head of the Biochemistry Unit of the SAITM campus Prof. Keerthi Attanayake said there was no need to question about the quality of the SAITM campus as they had a good staff who were already working in government universities. He said SAITM campus is enrolling students who had passedA/Ls and they also have to go through the University Grants Commission (UGC) similar to students at the government university. He advised those questioning the quality of the SAITM campus, to first give the students the opportunity to learn and later question about the quality. Professor Attanayake invited all parties who had concerns about the quality of the campus to visit the campus and see for themselves.