All seized narcotics to be destroyed on April 01 : President

President Maithripala Sirisena has said that all narcotics which were seized recently would be destroyed using chemical methods at Katunayake on April 01.

Addressing a meeting with heads of media institutions today (Mar 06), the President said that the government has called for international tenders to purchase high-tech equipment to be used in the detection of narcotics. The equipment which would cost around Rs 10 - 15 million will be imported within a few months, he said.

The President also announced that an anti-drug pledge titled 'Bakmaha Divuruma' will be taken by school students at the Independence Square on April 03.

Mr. Sirisena also took issue regarding the manner in which Ministers responsible for the police department had acted over the last few years. He claimed that these ministers had not taken relevant measures to award promotions to police officers during their term in office. 

Commenting on the police department even further, the President said that there were 2500 vacancies to be filled for the post of female police officers. He added that Tamil and Muslim police officers would be recruited in near future since there are many police officers who cannot converse in Tamil.