COLOMBO, 2 October 2005 — Saudi Arabia is funding a neurosurgical unit at the Colombo National Hospital. Sri Lankan Health Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva laid the foundation for the SR40 million, nine-story building on Monday. Saudi Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mohammed Mahmud Al-Ali, Minister of Environmental Affairs Abdul Hameed Mohamed Fowzie, Southern Province Governor Alavi Mowlana and members of the visiting Saudi delegation headed by Abdullah Al-Shedokhi, director of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), were also present.
“The fully-equipped complex financed by the SFD will be completed within 18 months,” Ambassador Al-Ali said. He said this was the first time a Saudi construction firm, Al-Mufti Construction Company, has been entrusted to complete a project in Sri Lanka. The Saudi company will be assisted by Colombo-based Mega Trading Company in equipping the new trauma unit.
The unit will have a total floor area of 11,000 sq. meters. It will house three operation theaters, a 12-bed intensive care unit (ICU), a 20-bed high dependency unit (HDU), a spinal injury unit, a neurosurgical unit and a ward complex for 150 patients. The unit will be provided with advanced medical equipment such as MRI and CT scanners.
Health Minister De Silva said the objective of the project was to improve facilities at the Colombo National Hospital by establishing a medical care services unit for patients suffering from head and spinal injuries.
He said the hospital felt the need for such a unit because of increasing number of people suffering head and spinal injuries from road accidents and civil disturbances.
He said current facilities were inadequate to save the lives of accident victims. Even private hospitals do not have facilities for the treatment of spinal, head and brain injuries, the minister said.
In a related development, the Kingdom donated 15 ambulances to hospitals in tsunami-affected areas. Al-Ali handed over the vehicles to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse at a simple ceremony at Temple Trees, the premier’s official residence, on Thursday.
Rajapakse told Arab News that the Kingdom had been with Sri Lanka through thick and thin and hoped that the dynamic leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah would further strengthen relations between the two countries.
