Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said a Special Task Force will be formed soon to combat drug menace to nab organised drug traffickers.
He said in the absence of a proper mechanism at the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCD) to coordinate effectively with other stakeholders and state institutions, it had affected the achievements of the NDDCD, which support to control drug menace.
Maj. Gen. Gunaratne addressing the NDDCD staff stressed the urgent need of a Special Task Force to coordinate collective efforts of respective stakeholders such as the Security Forces, Police, Special Task Force and Health Ministry along with other responsible government institutions in combating the drug menace.
“The NDDCD is to be restructureed to net drug peddlers,users and also the drug smugglers, who operate and are involved in drug smuggling from their prison cells,” he said. While stressing the need of working hard without abiding to the stipulated working hours the Defence Secretary requested the NDDCD staff to ‘give a little bit more to the assigned work’.
Recalling military practices of his time, he stressed on the necessity of continuous learning sessions, workshops, developing leadership skills to motivate individuals and shared working capabilities.
A special operations unit that functions 24/7 on the directives of the Defence Secretary was recently established at the Police Special Task Force Headquarters which is also gathering information with regard to drug smuggling incidents.
Director General (Acting) Aloka Bandara, Senior Assistant Secretary Sakunika Sumathipala, Additional Secretary (Acting) Malika Suriyapperuma, Staff of the NDDCD and Defence Ministry Officials were also present at the event.
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