18 Dec 2024 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera
The government announced yesterday that it would save over Rs. 1,200 million annually by reducing the security of former Presidents, replacing tri-forces security with the police, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala informed Parliament yesterday.
The government has decided to remove the security provided by the tri-forces to former Presidents from next week while continuing the police security as before, he said.
He told Parliament that some Rs. 1,448 million of state funds had been spent to maintain former Presidents for the last eleven months and fifteen days and that it is a waste of public money.
He said the decision to remove tri-forces security was taken following a threat assessment conducted by the police on the security of former presidents. The Minister said former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had been assigned 228 tri-forces personnel and 60 police officers, 57 tri-forces and 60 police officers for former president Ranil Wickremesinghe, 4 tri-forces and 60 police officers for Maithripala Sirisena, 188 tri-forces and 22 police officers, for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 60 police officers for Chandrika Bandaranaike and 10 police officers for Hema Premadasa.
The Minister said Rs. 207 million had been spent for former president Maithripala Sirisena, Rs. 307 for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Rs. 82 million for Ranil Wickremesinghe for three months, Rs. 110 million for Chandrika Bandaranaike and Rs. 32 million for Hema Premadasa.
He said following the new threat assessment, 60 police officers, one police vehicle and three vehicles of the Presidential Secretariat will be assigned for Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chandrika Bandaranaike while 22 police officers and 10 police officers for Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Hema Premadasa respectively will be assigned.
The Minister said the government is not reducing the security detail but standardising the security by removing the excessive security provided to former presidents.
He said the purpose of the government is to provide security for all the people, not only for former presidents.
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