Sri Lanka continues to develop even amidst war

Sumathipala DEEYAGAHAGE - Southern Province Roving correspondent

Persons who are qualified in the GCE (O/L) in two attempts can now apply as police constables, Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickramaratne said at the opening ceremony of the Ahangama Police Station.

He said from 2000 to 2003 the Police Department did not recruit a single officer. The Department needs an intake of six thousand to seven thousand officers annually. But during those three years not even a sanitary labourer was recruited. After President Rajapaksa assumed office, 18,000 officers have been recruited to the Police Department so far. We revised the mode of recruitment to the Police Department.

A process has been implemented now where a police constable can reach up to the rank of a senior DIG. The other benefit is that the interviews for recruitment are now held at the local police stations in their residential areas.

Therefore, I request the parents to recruit at least one of their children to the police force.

"Today there are wars in many countries in the world and when a war is waged in a country its development activities get retarded. But Sri Lanka has been able to continue with its development in the midst of the conflict because of the farsighted polices and effective leadership of the President, Minister of Vocational and Technical Training Piyasena Gamage said.

The Ahangama Police Station was constructed at a cost of Rs. 6.5 million by the Government of Japan.

Speaking further the Minister said, several thousand lives were lost in the Southern and Eastern coastal belts due to the tsunami.

Those lives cannot be resuscitated and we all have to bear that loss, but we have provided the materials, property, vehicles, buildings and many more lost due to the tsunami. The Eastern Province which was devastated due to the war is now undergoing development at a tremendous speed.

We have opened 32 police stations in the Eastern Province and several in the Northern Province. A majority of officers serving in these are from the Southern part of the country.

The Advisor to the Japan Diplomatic Mission in Sri Lanka Maisha Thaga, Senior DIG in charge of Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces D. W. Prathapasinghe, DIG in charge of Southern Province Jagath Abeysiriwardene and Galle SSP Keerthi Silva also addressed the meeting.