I'm not condemning. When I say “we don't want”, I'm talking of the civil society, the NGOs, the small NGOs that are doing their little jobs. I am saying that Canada and CIDA have to streamline their systems so that in the future they can accommodate small groups, small organizations, individuals, who, like me, are trying to do a small job, so that they can, for example, deliver more physician kits, more medicine, more food, and join hands with....
We are working with the Government Medical Officers' Association, an arm that has 7,000 doctors willing to work. You can't label them as the Sri Lankan government. They are in the government service, they are working in the health ministry, but they are humans. They are volunteering to go and work, and we have to support them. They don't have a pipeline to the resources. There are certain regulations that are laid down, and those preconditions always sideline us and help only big organizations. So this is the issue that I took up here.
In plain language, can CIDA allocate some money to help Partners International, to help us to get more of these physician kits sent to Sri Lanka, so that they can reach the people in Navaly, people in Batticaloa, Pulmoddai, Trincomalee, Kattankudi, Nintavur, and Akkaraipattu. There is so much need in these places. And how much can a government do under the circumstances?
This was my issue. I wasn't complaining or pointing fingers at the Canadian people, of whom I am one. I'm asking us to look into it and streamline the methodology so that at least there is a small reserve fund that can be created under CIDA, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or even under the Glyn Berry program. We need funds for the programs we are doing. What can five boxes of medicine do for IDPs? There are 58,000 IDPs. The health ministry and the WHO are trying their best to do what they can. So we need help.