A cabinet memorandum has been submitted to purchase 50 Toyota Hiace ambulances and 52 Hino water bowsers for essential fieldwork. Meanwhile, a cabinet memorandum has also been included to import 62 Toyota Hilux double cabs.
It is noteworthy that Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has submitted a new cabinet memorandum for the import of these vehicles after a previous attempt to purchase 227 luxury jeeps for parliamentarians failed due to opposition to the move from many quarters. The Cabinet Memorandum dated July 28 referred to the purchase of vehicles for essential fieldwork.
Accordingly, the memorandum states 50 ambulances will cost 206,757,500 Japanese yen duty-free, water bowsers 239,999,968 Japanese yen and 62 double-cabs US $ 1,801,456.
Although ambulances and water bowsers are essential for fieldwork due to the epidemic situation, the health sector is debating whether there is an urgency to purchase 62 double-cabs at the moment.
