Will take every possible action to end drug menace, organised crimes: President

• Country cannot move forward without addressing these issues

By Ajith Siriwardana

While asserting that the government will not withdraw the effort to wipe out the drug menace and organised crimes at any cost, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday the government will take every possible action to eradicate the drug menace and organised crimes in the country.

Addressing the 28th convention of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union, he said the country cannot move forward without addressing these issues.

The President said all sectors, even the state, political authority, have become victims of this menace.

“When we opened the iron door of drugs and organised crimes, we could see a horrific picture we never thought of. It is spread across all sectors. We can either shut the door and back away or march forward and destroy it. The government has decided not to withdraw our effort but destroy this menace somehow,” he said.

He said school children have become victims of this drug menace and stressed the need to rescue the future generation from this dangerous situation.

Commenting on the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to ban corporal punishment, he said that the government will not enact in Parliament any Act that the people do not agree to.

The President said the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill was only debated in Parliament and pointed out that if people reject that Bill, it will not be enacted.

He said laws are enacted not for the rulers but for the people.

The President said there was a time when not only laws but even the Constitution was amended for the benefit of the rulers, and added that the present government will never do so.