President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to speed up the modernisation of the Sri Lanka Police, and to bring the country’s separate drug rehabilitation programmes under a single national framework without delay.
He issued the directives on Thursday at the Presidential Secretariat, during a review of projects run by the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs under the 2026 Budget and a pre-budget discussion for 2027.
Rehabilitation to be consolidated
The meeting was told that talks have begun on establishing a formal, integrated rehabilitation process covering the whole country, replacing the programmes currently operated independently by the Department of Social Services, the Sri Lanka Police, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health. The President instructed officials to expedite that work.
Officials also reported that a three-month family counselling programme, offered to people who voluntarily seek rehabilitation before they enter a programme, has helped increase the number of drug-dependent people coming forward in recent months.
Reviewing the Rs. 1,000 million capital allocation for the government’s “A Nation United” (“Ratama Ekata”) anti-drug operation, the President stressed the need for all stakeholders to take an active part. The operation has driven police drug arrests since its launch.
Allocations discussed included Rs. 417.48 million for the Police Narcotics Bureau to strengthen detection and raid capacity, Rs. 288.15 million for the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board for public awareness and rehabilitation facilities, and Rs. 13.54 million to convert the Kallady Police Training Centre into a rehabilitation centre.
Ageing stations and a 20-year-old fleet
The review turned to the cost of running the force’s 608 police stations, noting the significant annual expenditure on rented premises and the case for constructing permanent buildings. Work under way at the Weligama and Mullaitivu stations is expected to be completed within the next few months.
The purchase of new vehicles was also discussed, given that a considerable number of police vehicles are more than 20 years old and increasingly expensive to maintain.
Officials reviewed progress on a proposed new Police Headquarters, infrastructure at the Police Hospital and a planned police sports complex at Mirihana, along with the force’s digitalisation programme and the modernisation of police uniforms.
Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala attended, together with Treasury and ministry officials.
Source: Daily Mirror.
