The Ministry of Health and Mass Media has handed over a fully equipped mobile laboratory bus to the National Transport Medical Institute (NTMI) to expand random drug testing of drivers and conductors working in public transport.
Health and Mass Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa presented the documentation for the vehicle to NTMI Chairman Professor Clifford Perera at a ceremony at the ministry premises on Monday. The clinical bus carries the registration number PZA-0040.
The NTMI functions under the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development, and the handover was made in response to a request from that ministry for additional facilities to support drug screening.
A programme already running in five provinces
The testing scheme operates under the two-year strategic plan of the National Road Safety Programme. It conducts random drug tests on drivers, conductors and assistants working on public transport services to identify narcotics use while on duty.
The programme currently runs in five of the country’s nine provinces. A total of 7,150 tests have been carried out under it so far. The NTMI plans to extend testing to the remaining provinces as staffing and physical resources allow.
Repurposed from the health sector
Minister Jayatissa said the mobile laboratory had originally been donated to the Health Ministry and had been deployed for a range of health testing programmes across several districts. With laboratory capacity within the health sector now substantially expanded, he said, the government judged that the vehicle would be better used in a programme directly aimed at saving lives on the roads.
Jayatissa said investigations into a number of road accidents had found that drivers involved were allegedly using narcotics, and that strengthening the transport ministry’s existing testing unit had become a timely necessity.
Context
Road safety has been a recurring focus for the government, which has set out short-, medium- and long-term measures to cut deaths, injuries and property damage from accidents. Police separately announced on Monday a special operation targeting reckless and impaired driving during the school holidays.
Note on naming: Daily Mirror refers to the institute as the National Institute of Transport Medicine (NITM). NewsFirst, Ada Derana and this publication’s earlier coverage use National Transport Medical Institute (NTMI).
Sources: NewsFirst, Ada Derana, Daily Mirror.
