Rs. 1.5 bn short to run Suwa Seriya ambulances

While the Treasury couldn’t fund completely the Suwa Seriya 1990 ambulance service that has a budgeted expense of Rs. 3.9 billion per annum, top conglomerates and certain individuals in the country are funding the initiative by adopting an ambulance for Rs. 5 million.

The government has approved a portion of the budgeted expense of Rs. 2.4 billion while the remaining Rs. 1.5 billion is funded by the private sector corporates.

On the sidelines of an event that was held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo recently, Suwa Seriya1990, Chairman, Dumindra Ratnayaka told the Business Times, “To run Suwa Seriya 1990 for a year, the government has approved an amount of Rs. 2.4 billion while the total budgeted expense is Rs. 3.9 billion. We were short of Rs. 1.5 billion which we are trying to raise through the ‘Adopt an Ambulance’ initiative facilitated by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.”

Some 105 out of a total of 297 ambulances have already been adopted by the corporates and several individuals which amounted to Rs. 0.5 billion, he added. “When we did the budget for this year, our costs were high and the fuel prices were high since all our ambulances drive around 25,000 km per day. But now with the reduced fuel prices the costs have come down. So we might not need Rs. 3.9 billion as budgeted.”

He also mentioned that there are many corporates who wants to donate, but not as high as Rs. 5 million. “We will not brand an ambulance in any of the donor’s name. We will also do a crowd sourcing in the future for anyone who wants to donate.”