Sri Lanka’s Ministerial Consultative Committee on Transport, Highways and Urban Development has approved several key decisions under the Motor Traffic Act and reviewed losses and damage caused by the recent disaster situation in the country.
The decisions were taken at a meeting held in Parliament on January 6, chaired by Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development Bimal Rathnayake. The approved regulations are due to be presented to Parliament on January 8.
- Decisions approved by the committee include:
1. Approval of regulations under the Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203) allowing police officers, where there is reasonable suspicion of drug use, to produce a person driving, operating or physically controlling a motor vehicle before a Government Medical Officer or an authorised hospital officer for medical examination, as published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2452/40.
2. Approval of regulations making it mandatory for every person travelling on an expressway to wear a seat belt, as published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2455/29.
3. Acceptance of a briefing by the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development on damage caused by the recent disaster situation and the progress of restoration work.
4. Noting that approximately 287 road sections under the Road Development Authority, covering about 1,481 kilometres, have been damaged, with estimated reconstruction costs of around Rs. 86 billion.
5. Acknowledgement of losses reported by the Railway Department amounting to approximately Rs. 300 billion due to the disaster situation.
6. Recognition of losses of around Rs. 63 million incurred by the Sri Lanka Transport Board as a result of the emergency.
7..Launch of a dedicated public website to provide information on road damage across the country, accessible via road-lk.org.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman of Committees Hemali Weerasekara, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, State Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasekera, Deputy Minister of Urban Development Eranga Gunasekara, other Members of Parliament and senior government officials. (Newswire)