(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) –The government will implement a special program in the future to provide special training to drivers on road discipline with the aim of minimizing the increasing number of road accidents.
At the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Security held on November 10th under the chairmanship of the Minister of Public Security Dr. Sarath Weerasekera, the Minister stated that 1,948 lives have been lost due to road accidents since January this year and about 27,000 lives have been lost during the last 10 years
Therefore, a special program will be implemented by the Sri Lanka Police and affiliated institutions to protect road discipline, the Minister said.
He said that a system of spot fines and a system of Driver’s Demerit Point will be introduced soon to address the shortcomings in the payment system.
The Minister said this when the need for a program to avoid this situation was identified by the Members of Parliament as the lack of discipline of drivers has been identified as a major reason for the increase in road accidents.
Dilum Amunugama, State Minister of Vehicle Regulation, Bus Transport Services and Train Compartments and Motor Car Industry and State Minister of Community Police Services said that training programs have been planned to educate drivers on road discipline and that it was delayed due to the prevailing Covid situation.
Accordingly, as a first step, a two-week training program for inter-provincial bus drivers will be launched in the near future, he said. About 17,000 inter-provincial bus drivers are currently employed and the State Minister emphasized the importance of maintaining their discipline in the face of frequent bus accidents.
The committee also drew its attention to the need to provide proper allowances and salaries to the officers of the Sri Lanka Police who perform their duties under very difficult conditions without any trade union action or protest.
Minister Weerasekera said that 15,700 police personnel had been infected and 44 had died during the previous COVID situation and thanked the Members of Parliament for raising the issue of increasing the salaries and allowances of police officers working amidst various difficulties.
The need for the police to act more responsibly in reporting crime through the media was also discussed at length. The Minister instructed the IGP to take action as it is problematic for the police to make statements to the media to obstruct court proceedings.
Members of Parliament Akila Ellawala, Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, Jagath Pushpakumara, Shantha Bandara, Chandima Weerakkody, Ajith Rajapakse, Madhura Withanage, Gunathilaka Rajapaksha, Muditha Prishanthi, Manjula Dissanayake, Udayana C. Kirindigoda, Diana Gamage, Anupa Pasqual, (Major) Sudarshana Denipitiya, IGP C. D. Wickramaratne and a group of senior police officers were also present at the occasion.
