(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – Minister of Transport Management, Power & Energy Mahinda Amaraweera has said that from next year onwards, the preparation of driving licenses will be handed over to the Sri Lanka Army.
Until now, Department of Motor Traffic processed the driving licenses prepared by a private company for a large sum of money.
Normally the public had to pay around Rs. 1,340 to obtain a driving license. Also, due to the contract for issuing driving licenses had been handed over to a private company in 2009, a huge amount of money that could have been saved in the country was flown overseas annually. The process continued over the years by extending the contract with the company from time to time.
Taking this into consideration, a special discussion was held Tuesday (14) at the auditorium of the Ministry of Transport Services under the patronage of Minister Mahinda Amaraweera to explore the possibility of handing over the issuance of driving licenses to the Sri Lanka Army in the future.
Defense Secretary Major General (Retired) Kamal Gunaratne, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva and Secretary to the Ministry Gamini Seneviratne were also present at the discussion.
Minister Mahinda Amaraweera stated that from next year onwards, the preparation of driving licenses will be handed over to the Sri Lanka Army.
“This will enable us to issue a driver’s license at a very low cost, save a large amount of money that we have lost so far in the country and retain our information system owned by a private company to the security forces,” he said.
Defense Secretary Major General Kamal Gunaratne said that a driver’s license could be prepared for a very small amount of money. He also said that it was a crime to spend Rs. 1340 for that.
The Army Commander said that there was nothing the Sri Lanka Army could not do and the Army is ready to prepare the driving licenses.
Minister Mahinda Amaraweera appointed a joint committee of the Army and the Ministry of Defense to coordinate these activities.
