Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala has signalled that the government is considering shutting down some police stations as part of a planned restructuring of the police service, saying their number has exceeded requirements.
Speaking at a District Coordination Committee meeting at the Kurunegala District Secretariat on Monday, the minister said the proliferation of police stations had reached a point where rationalisation was on the table.
“The number of police stations has now increased significantly. We are even considering shutting down some of them,” Wijepala said, according to Ada Derana.
The minister did not specify which stations would be considered for closure, the scale of the exercise or the timeline for any decision. He also did not indicate how the rationalisation would affect staff deployment or rural policing coverage. Ada Derana reported the remarks on Tuesday evening.
The signal is the first public indication that the NPP government is reviewing the geographic footprint of the Sri Lanka Police, which operates more than 600 stations across the country. The Kurunegala District alone is served by dozens of stations covering urban, semi-urban and rural areas.
Wijepala, who also holds the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, has been one of the more visible ministers on policing and security matters in recent months. He previously told Parliament there is no current e-passport tender and has appeared frequently in parliamentary debates on the Easter attacks conspiracy.
