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Tight security for December 31

By Shezna Shums

Extra police officers will be deployed in Colombo and the suburbs to ensure better security on December 31, as the Police Department is keen on ensuring there is no repeat of last year's daunting statistics on traffic offences.

Interior Ministry sources confirmed that 40 officers are already following the senior traffic management course which would equip them to easily detect reckless, drunk and speeding drivers and to ensure better law enforcement at ground level.

These officers who are currently undergoing special training will be deployed in the Colombo city and the suburbs along with other personnel to boot the security. Special security arrangements have already been made for Panadura, Kelaniya, Gampaha, and Mount Lavinia.

According to the OIC (Traffic Branch), Police Headquarters, SI J. Senadhira, the road offences have been prioritised, such as drunk driving, speeding, irregular overtaking, reckless driving, dangerous driving, etc, since traffic violations reach an all time high during the festive season with roads getting more congested. "We expect to ensure a reduction in the number of road accidents this way," he explained.

According to Senadhira, from January 1 to December 19 around 1,630 reported fatal accidents and 1,765 deaths have been recorded largely owing to traffic offences. However he pointed out that there is a significant decline in the number of fatal accidents this year compared to the number in 2002, which was 2,160.

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