After facing heat from opposition leaders on vaccine procurement, the Sri Lankan government has said that the country was not a dumping ground for "Chinese garbage", a report in Daily Mirror says.

Sri Lankan cabinet co-spokesman  Keheliya Rambukwella said that such claims are mere gossip and not backed with facts. Talking to reporters on Tuesday, he said it is a "joke" to claim Sri Lanka was importing “garbage from China”.

Udaya Gammanpila, also a cabinet co-spokesperson, informed that the Sri Lankan government cannot decide or comment on the price of the vaccine. Only the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka or the Chinese Government can comment.

Earlier, a controversy erupted in Sri Lanka over the alleged differential pricing of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines that the Sri Lankan government has been procuring from China, with authorities facing the allegation of signing the deal at a relatively higher price. 

Sri Lanka has placed an order of 20 million Sinopharm vaccines at $15 per dose. However, some reports alleged that Bangladesh procured the same vaccine at $10 per dose. 

 Channa Jayasuma, the Sri Lankan Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals, said there was no such agreement to give the vaccine at $10 for Bangladesh. He further added Bangladesh is still negotiating the agreement with China. 

However, he added that the vaccine has been sold to Sri Lanka at a lower price than the price given to other countries.

Earlier, the Chinese embassy in Colombo also put a clarification on Twitter: “We checked with the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka as well as #Sinopharm group. Bangladesh Health Minister has clarified last week that their procurement agreement including pricing is not finalized yet. The fake news on social media has already disturbed their ongoing negotiation.” 

(SAM)