Malnourished infant’s death leads to inquiry
Officials are trying to determine if dereliction of duty led to the death of a malnourished infant from a destitute family living in Tissamaharama.
Eleven- month old Malith Mihiranga Rajapaksa passed away on May 14.
There are thousands of families living in poverty in the Hambantota District.
The Hambantota District Secretary has begun an inquiry to find out possible lapses or negligence by government officials.
The District Secretary, Bandula Harishchandra said no child should be allowed to die of malnutrition in Sri Lanka.
“This should never have happened,” he said. “I will order an
inquiry to check whether the officials did their part.”
He was speaking at the foundation laying ceremony for a Divisional Secretariat building in Angukolapelessa.
However, the Sunday Times learns that a midwife had visited the child’s home, a ramshackle shack, before the tragedy and advised the family of the infant’s serious condition. She is believed to have told the family to immediately take the child to a clinic and collect the free triposha nourishment allocation provided by the Medical Officer of Health. But the family is suspected to have delayed seeking the nutritional help.
The family is plagued by poverty and the midwife had raised concerns over the health of three other children as well. The poor parents do not have the means to send the children to school, nor can they feed them nutritious meals. The father is a fish vendor.
The State Minister of Fisheries, Dilip Wedaarachchi also addressed the issue. “The government has implemented Samurdhi programmes to curtail this issue, but for this to work, officials have to do their job well,’’ he said.