Sri Lankans celebrate New Year on solemn note
 

by Sarath Malalasekera

The Sinhala and Tamil New Year was celebrated throughout the country in a very peaceful atmosphere raising new hopes for a bright future for the Nation, Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando told the 'Daily News' yesterday.

This was specially conspicuous in Hill country plantation areas where the estate Tamil community and the Sinhalese celebrated the occasion in amity and brotherhood.

The IGP who toured the Central Province on New Year's day, told the regional police top brass, that the feed back he received was that the two major communities were keen to forge ahead in amity and friendship to overcome challenges before them. "Not a single major incident was reported during the last 48 hours in the hill country and in the Colombo divisions, except for several minor incidents in the estate sector," the IGP said.

Several motor car accidents had been reported in the hill country during the festive season, he added. On New Year's eve, Fernando advised motorists to refrain from driving under the influence of liquor during the festive season.

He had ordered his men to come down hard on errant motorists to weed out 'highway killers'. The crackdown comes in the wake of increasing road fatalities in recent times. "I have instructed my men to ignore status or position of any offender and to take prompt action against those who break the law. Police have increased surveillance on all main roads to arrest speed fiends. Our intention is to ensure the safety of all citizens," the IGP said.

Colombo City Traffic and the other Traffic Divisions of the area police stations had also deployed special traffic police squads to apprehend drivers violating traffic laws, the IGP said.