ISMATHUL RAHMAN
COLOMBO : All motorists entered the Western Province on Monday got their vehicles stamped with a new sticker that will indicate the purpose of their visit to enter the province.
At the entrance to the western province from the northern coastal belt, vehicles were stopped and the police stamped them for their official clearance, which would ease the motorists on the following days to enter the city without any checks.
Due to inconveniences and delays caused by the sticker system introduced last week, the Sri Lanka Police on Monday introduced a more efficient system to ensure those carrying out essential services can enter Colombo City amidst travel restrictions.
According to Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana, 11 stickers have been introduced for specific sectors, with green for health services, light blue for tri-forces and police, purple for private sector essential services, light brown for import, export and manufacturing, yellow for essential service providers, red for distribution of essential goods, orange for media and communication, white for overseas travel, black for funerals, hospitalisation and related activities, grey for prepared meal delivery, and pink for the public sector. The stickers will mention the number of persons travelling in the vehicle and will be valid until travel restrictions are lifted.
“Close to 500,000 vehicles travel within Colombo City daily. Surveys carried out during the past few days showed that 75,000 vehicles belonging to essential services travelled towards Colombo between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on weekdays while travel restrictions are in place,” DIG Rohana said.
