Sri Lanka goals to scale back the time taken to situation drug analyst reviews to a few months by January 31, 2027, Justice and Nationwide Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has introduced.
The Minister made the announcement throughout an inspection go to to the Authorities Analyst’s Division in Battaramulla on Friday (October 16, 2026), the place he reviewed the progress of issuing reviews associated to narcotic substances.
Throughout the go to, officers revealed that the Division had accomplished issuing analyst reviews for narcotic samples weighing lower than 5 grams acquired as much as August 2026, below a particular programme to clear the backlog of pending reviews.
Work to finish the remaining reviews has additionally been accelerated.
In keeping with the Ministry of Justice and Nationwide Integration, delays in issuing Authorities Analyst’s reviews have been a significant impediment to rushing up courtroom proceedings and lowering the variety of inmates held in prisons.
The Ministry mentioned workers vacancies and restricted amenities on the Division had beforehand precipitated severe delays in issuing reviews.
After the present authorities took workplace, these issues had been recognized, and measures had been launched to enhance the state of affairs. These included filling vacant positions, offering essential amenities and granting allowances to officers working night time shifts.
Throughout his inspection, Minister Nanayakkara visited the laboratories, spoke with officers about their work and reviewed the amenities obtainable to hurry up the reporting course of.
He additionally examined the continued computerization of analyst reviews and pressured the significance of finishing up tasks effectively to attain the anticipated outcomes.
The Minister mentioned the required measures and methods had been now in place to satisfy the targets by January 31, 2027, permitting the time required to situation analyst reviews to be decreased to a few months.
He thanked officers for his or her dedication to clearing pending reviews and requested them to tell him of any difficulties affecting their work, assuring them of his fullest assist in addressing such points.
The Minister additionally gave directions to take care of a extra systematic and environment friendly reporting course of and reviewed the progress of ongoing work.
Appearing Authorities Analyst Kamini Perera and several other officers of the Authorities Analyst’s Division had been current through the inspection.
