Residents living around Dambulla’s tourist hotels have urged the police to take action to curb the drug menace in the area and help them save their children.
It would be recalled that residents of Dambulla protested over the construction of Kandalama Hotel over the wewa dam. They carried posters and banners requesting that their children be saved from alien cultures.
But today, the hotel has become profitable to the area, while being environmental friendly.
Today, hotels have mushroomed in this area, forcing residents to protest again, and such scenes are frequent, especially, in places such as police stations or ASP’s offices, unlike earlier, when protestors gathered on highways.
The focus this time is more on drugs and hooch, freely available, from which the residents want their children to be shielded. This is in keeping with the State’s ‘mathata thitha’ programme, whereas in Kandalama it is abundantly violated.
Those engaged as such, are said to be free of the law, to the extent of even enjoying political patronage. A petition signed by 135 families to the ASP P.K. Gnanasena was handed over for action.
It stated that drugs are available in supermarkets, and those opposed to it are being harassed.
The petition states that those often caught in the drug trade, receive police support and protection.
Among the protestors marching to the police, a woman was seen crying, a mother of three, she was lamenting the fact that her husband was an addict who often assaults her. Some even trade with school children.
Informers often get assaulted by the police. Such is the situation here. ASP Gnanasena said that he would deal with the issue, while thanking residents for being conscious of the spread of this vice.
Residents appreciate the stance of the police in Kandalama who are prepared to listen patiently to their woes, whereas, in some places, protestors are manhandled by the police. |
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