Ask the Minister: Matters of Public Interest 

A chat with Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law & Order and Southern Development 

Some of our readers will be very interested in getting to know the progress of the present government and the future plans of the Ministers. With the endeavour of creating awareness in this regard, Daily Mirror Life met up with some Ministers and asked them a few questions. Their answers will be carried in this weekly column. This week, we speak to Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law & Order and Southern Development. 

When you say Law and Order, we know that the police department is under your purview. What other areas are overlooked by your Ministry? 

The Dangerous Drugs Board which is a very important area, also comes under me. We work on anti-drug programmes and rehabilitation programmes and we also have rehabilitation centres. We work closely with the police and a few non-governmental organisations as well. We are in the process of implementing better strategies for all these areas that come under my purview. 

The illegal substances you confiscate, what is done with it? Is it destroyed or does it find its way back to the market again? 

It certainly doesn’t go back into the market again. These drugs are court material. It is like any other court property where there is serious inventory checking and procedures. The accepted practice is, after the case is over the Magistrate’s courts or High Courts destroys it. 

Do you see this AVA group and other small groups in the North as a serious problem? 

I don’t see this as a big problem. This AVA group is not a terrorist group. They are a bunch of children who have got some extra money to their hands. Relatives living abroad have sent money and these youngsters have bought computers and motorcycles and stuff like this with the money and they are going a bit berserk.  This fight originally started in a Kovil and it’s still going on. The problem is not the AVA group. It’s the media that has completely blown this out of proportion. At the moment there are about sixty youngsters that we have identified. But the more we blow this out of proportion then more that are going to join the group as they think it’s a ‘cool’ thing to do. 

But there was an Army deserter who was caught with the group? 

That one Army deserter was a Volunteer Army personnel who had joined the Army as an electrician. This has nothing to do with the Army or soldiers. It’s just a group of kids. They are all very young and misled. 

So what do you hope to do about these youngsters? 

We need to catch them and charge them first. Then probably rehabilitate and guide them to go on the correct path as they are presently misled. 

How is new technology being used by the police to eradicate crime? And what about specialised training? 

We are using technology a great deal more than we did before. We have been using software newly designed by our own university students to linkup police Stations and data bases islandwide through a police network. For example, if we arrest someone and put him into a police station, all police stations will be notified that this person has been arrested. We have very good trainers. The Scottish police help us on certain matters and Australians help us on issues of migration. 

What issues do you encounter when trying to implement these new systems? 

The only problem is that these systems are operational only after the crime is committed. We need to use technology to prevent crimes and have real time action. Right now we are going through the process of developing technology for this. I’m pushing to bring about these prevention systems as soon as possible.  New camera systems, censors and communication equipment will be set up by the end of next year for this purpose. 

What measures are you taking to bring about a more productive police force? 

Even with regular traffic offences there will be less human interaction in the future. Cameras will detect offences and notifications will be sent. Some changes to the law will be required to implement these things. And we are on it. Then police officers can concentrate on real situations of law and order. 

As of now 5% of our police force is on static duty providing security to places such as temples, kovils and VIP residences. Once we reduce this number, like in the good old days, police cars will be patrolling or policemen will be riding a bicycle or walking on the streets and being available to the people if there is a problem. 

Is the police force more independent than it used to be before? 

Yes, the police force is very independent now. Even I don’t interfere. We don’t interfere politically but we have a government policy that law and order must be in a sound state to create a peaceful environment for the people. Everybody must feel that they have a fair playing field when they go into a police station. 

A common complaint by the public is that the police force is not polite. Is there some training required in this area? With the recently published book of the Code of Ethics, do you think this will improve? 

Many people have told me that this situation has already improved. Two years ago it was in a terrible state. During the war, the training period was brought down to only 6 months. Now we have increased it from 12 -18 months. Retraining frequency had been very bad in the past. We are pushing for daily mentorship by the senior officer in the station itself and frequent retraining will also be given. They will be reminded that they are there for the people and they are getting paid by the people. In turn the government will look after them. They will have an independent work environment, working standards will improve and salaries will be increased. 

Cyber crime is a huge problem in the modern world. What steps are being taken in this regard? 

This is currently being handled by the CID. I have been looking into it with the support of Hon. Minister Harin Fernando. We’ll be taking in top class people as we need specialised knowledge in this area. We will be setting up a Cyber Crime Unit and training people to handle the work. This will commence very soon. We will be having a centralised unit with a desk for such matters at every police station. They will monitor trends and be proactive and work towards preventing crimes. 

What about the women and children’s desk? Is that facility properly in operation? 

Yes, it is very much in operation but we will be improving it. In the recently passed out batch of police officers, there are 30% women, so that’s a very good thing. Women who come to police stations feel more comfortable with female police officers. We are looking for more Tamil speaking officers as well. The new standard in a police station is to have a separate door from the outside for women and children to come in from. There will also be play areas for children and the environment will be more comfortable and less intimidating for people. 

There is an emergency line for the police, are those at the other end trained to handle emergencies? 

They are trained to handle these emergencies but there is a shortage of people and the equipment needs to be modernised. Now they take the message and pass it onto the relevant police station. But with the modern methods, things will get much better. 

What in your opinion would be the prerequisites for the Yahapalanaya government to implement their plans? 

For us to do all of this, national harmony is an absolutely essential prerequisite and we have brought that about. Now various organisations such as the Joint Opposition and extremists factions are trying to create chaos. That is not on.  There has to be a law in any country that is common to anybody. Anybody who breaks the law should face a judicial process and pay the price. You can’t hide behind power. 

What is the corner stone of your Southern development plan and how much have you achieved? 

I will be overlooking and coordinating with the other ministries to see that the infrastructure and other development projects are carried out according to plan. The Southern Development Board and the Ruhunu Development Corporation will assist me. With the 15,000 acres of Industrial Zones there will be manufacturing coming in, which means there will be employment opportunities, worker migration and new townships. We will encourage high end hotels, boutique concept or even luxury home stay for tourism. Sri Lanka is so beautiful we haven’t touched on even a fragment of the opportunities and possibilities that are out there. 

Did you know? 

• He was the Head Prefect at Royal College, Colombo. 
• He graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. 
• He was a Financial Analyst at Central Finance and Credit Operations Manager at HSBC. 
• His grand-uncle Victor Ratnayake, MBE was a notable legislator from Deniyaya.