Columns

Police seem to be facing a major challenge in minimising road accidents, with reports saying that an increasing number of bus drivers use narcotic drugs to ensure they do not fall asleep while driving.

Yesterday the Moratuwa Police detected one such driver under the influence of drugs. The bus he was driving from Hambantota to Colombo carried 45 passengers.

Police acting on a tip-off stopped the bus and checked the driver. A urine sample tested positive for drug use. The driver had used heroin with ICE.

The driver claimed he took the drug so that he would not fall asleep while driving—a dangerous trend which has been on the rise.

Police said that they have arrested and detected at least 26 such drivers in recent months, and tests had proved positive for drugs.

Most drivers are aware of the limitations of the police in testing drivers for drugs and therefore abuse the law.

“It is a challenge for the police as well as a bigger threat to the passengers travelling in these buses. If a driver is under the influence of liquor, it is easy to detect, but it is very difficult to suspect if the driver has used drugs,” a senior police officer said.

It is up to the law enforcement authorities to find a remedy for speedy detections.

CIABOC DG cleared of allegation over son’s Royal entry

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), which probed a complaint lodged against its own Director General Range Dissanayake over the admission of his son to Royal College, Colombo, in 2014, has exonerated him.

The Commission stated that a preliminary investigation was conducted under Section 42 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act, following a complaint regarding the school admission. The Commission said priority was given to investigating the complaint as it concerned the DG, and reports were obtained from the Judicial Service Commission and Royal College, Colombo, during the inquiry.

The investigation revealed that the admission was made according to the Ministry of Education guidelines issued in line with Supreme Court judgment No. SCFR 235/2011, which allows the children of judicial officers to be admitted to schools. It further noted that several other children of judicial officers were admitted to Royal College the same year under the same guidelines.

Based on the findings, the Commission concluded that there was no irregularity, bias, illegality, or political interference in the admission process.

Big picture within Wimal’s picture

Shiranthi's Miss Sri Lanka picture on the wall

Since former president Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to his home, ‘Carlton House’, in Tangalle, he has been having daily visitors, including some of his supporters from different parts of the country.

Family members and politicians too have been among the visitors. Among those who visited him this week were his brother, former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Chief Justice Sarath Silva and former MP Wimal Weerawansa.

Mr Weerawansa posted on social media photographs with the former president. But one photograph drew more interest than others, because it showed a framed picture of former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa on the wall.
The picture was taken soon after she was crowned Miss Sri Lanka in 1973.

Jeevan’s spiritual push for youth empowerment

Ceylon Worker’s Congress General Secretary Jeevan Thondaman was in India this week and took time off to call on one of India’s leading spiritual gurus, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishanker Ji.

Mr. Thandaman receiving spiritual advice from Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishanker Ji

“We discussed youth empowerment initiatives in Sri Lanka, inspired by the programmes the Guru has led in over 100 countries, and I’m deeply grateful for his willingness to support these efforts,” Mr Thondaman said after his meeting in an X post.

The spiritual leader who is the founder of the Art of Living Foundation was in Sri Lanka in 2024 for the re-consecration of the Seetha Amman temple in Nuwara Eliya.

Ranil’s double decker to accommodate Chamara Sampath

Sri Lanka Freedom Party Deputy Chairman Chamara Sampath Dasanayake, addressing the UNP’s 79th anniversary celebrations yesterday, was among those who touched on unity among opposition members.

Of course he had one concern—that was with so much unity spoken about, he may have no place in the bus carrying the united opposition.

He said the bus would be automatically loaded if the UNP and the SJB got together.

“The bus is already loaded; as Palani Thigambaram, Senthil Tondaman, Mano Ganesan, and Hakeem would get into the bus, if they all get into the bus, how could we get on to that bus? Then Nimal Siripala and I won’t be able to even climb onto the footboard of the bus,” he said.

He also said that according to the simple numbers game, if the UNP and SJP got together, they would have sufficient numbers to defeat the NPP. However, he cautioned the two parties not to call the SLFP to join them without getting together.

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s media chief Dhanushka Ramanayake, who compered the event, said Chamara Samapth should be among those in the bus and even deserves a place somewhere close to the driver.

But the UNP leader Wickeremesinghe went further, saying, “Don’t worry. We will get a double-decker bus, and Chamara Sampath can be on the top deck of it, not on the footboard.”

Was seeing the tree—not the expressway—a political act?

The construction of the Kadawatha-Mirigama section of the Central Expressway resumed this week after a lapse of more than three years with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in attendance.

Problems over funding were not the only reason the project was stalled. There was an outcry over plans to remove a tree identified as ‘Crudia zeylanica’ due to the work on the expressway with some forest officers, environmentalists and others opposing its removal and thus causing a major obstruction to the continuation of the project.

The tree that (supposedly) delayed the project

While the revived project will cost thrice the amount of the initial project, some opposition politicians are questioning the manner in which a tree was used to obstruct a major project and if the real reason was more political than any love for a tree.

Mano’s father-son analogy sparks laughter

Tamil Progressive Alliance parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan, who spoke at the 79th annual convention of the UNP yesterday, drew laughter from the audience when he compared UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to the father of the household and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa to the son.

“There are problems within families, and fathers and sons can have fights, but we cannot interfere in them. However, if there is an external threat to that household, we will certainly step in as neighbours,” he said amidst laughter by many in the audience.

NPP’s overseas engagements show no sign of slowing

Ruling party MPs may be neglecting their local voter base, but they are fully engaged in keeping their overseas supporters happy.

NPP MPs have been making regular visits to different world capitals to meet their supporters, while President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, too, has been meeting party supporters on the sidelines of his overseas tours.

A group of NPP MPs took flight to Geneva for a meeting on Friday. Swiss-based Sri Lankans were invited to a “friendly gathering and discussion with Members of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (NPP) who are visiting Geneva.” The special guests were Deputy National Integration Minister Muneer Mulaffer and parliamentarians Samanmali Gunasingha and Nilanthi Kottahachchi.

Bus hostesses to add beauty to service

The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) is set to recruit 450 drivers and 300 conductors, including female staff, with uniforms reportedly designed to match that of an air hostess.

“We have designed a uniform that suits an air hostess’s level,” Minister of Transport Bimal Rathnayake emphasised.

Before deployment, adequate protection and sanitary facilities must be ensured at depots. “If female drivers and conductors are recruited, SLTB will look more beautiful. But you have to take care of them as an organisation because after two to three months, they should be able to tell the country that the working conditions are good. We can’t force them to say it,” he said.

Female recruits will initially be assigned to school buses in Colombo, with the programme rolled out in phases. Eventually, female staff will join the Sisueriya service.

Bimal and ITAK MP clash over road use and land release

Thursday’s District Development Committee meeting in Jaffna, focusing on regional transport issues, saw some heated ‘moments’ between Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Minister Bimal Rathnayake and Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) parliamentarian S. Shritharan.

During the meeting, the MP inquired about returning civilian lands under military custody in Jaffna and continued to stress that the government was not genuine when it came to returning civilian lands under military occupation since 1986 in Valikaamam North, including in Palaly.

The irritated minister intervened to say, “I can speak louder than you,” while stressing the government would not allow ‘politicisation’ of the issue and assured that civilian-owned lands were being released without any big fanfare.

For example, he pointed out the release of land in Vasavilan and allowing public access to Palaly Road, a former High Security Zone (HSZ). In response, Mr Shritharan said that those who use the road cannot stop in the middle or return frequently, as the military imposed strict regulations on the use of the road.

Meanwhile, Jaffna District Secretary M. Piratheepan chipped in to note that 57.5 acres of land had been released since the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) government took office—bringing the dispute to an end and moving on to the next subject.