Wednesday July 8, 2026 9:59 am Wednesday July 8, 2026 9:59 am ECONOMYNEXT — Sri Lanka’s prison system is facing severe overcrowding because of the government’s Ratama Ekata anti-drugs programme, with the inmate population nearly quadrupling its official capacity, minister Nalind…
Wednesday July 8, 2026 9:59 am
Wednesday July 8, 2026 9:59 am
ECONOMYNEXT — Sri Lanka’s prison system is facing severe overcrowding because of the government’s Ratama Ekata anti-drugs programme, with the inmate population nearly quadrupling its official capacity, minister Nalinda Jayatissa has said. The prison population has surged to 41,000, exceeding the system’s capacity of 11,000 inmates, he told reporters, in a sharp escalation from September 2024, when the prison population stood close to 28,000. “In prisons that can only accommodate 11,000 inmates, there was a population close to 28,000 by September 2024,” Jayatissa said. “Recently, due to the nationwide drug eradication operations being implemented and arrests being made while enforcing the law, this number has escalated further to 41,000 as of today.” The ruling National People’s Power, now in power for 1 year and 8 months, had promised better conditions for prisoners in their election manifesto.
Opposition legislators have pointed out that many of the people apprehended in drug raids were thrown in prison simply for arguing with Police, or due to a failure to pay minor fines. To ease the infrastructure strain, a new detention facility is set to be established in the Mahamodara area of Galle. According to an Extraordinary Gazette notification issued under the powers granted by Section 2 of the Prisons Ordinance (Chapter 54), the facility will be officially designated as the “Mahamodara Prison,” holding country-wide jurisdiction. The order was signed by Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara, in Colombo on July 7. While the new facility addresses physical space, the influx of inmates has also exacerbated systemic delays within the justice system, particularly due to a backlog in receiving forensic reports. Jayatissa noted that delays in getting Government Analyst reports have slowed down bail hearings and general court proceedings. The government has faced challenges addressing this, he said, including a lack of qualified applicants holding required chemistry degrees, though recruitment for the department is now moving forward. Meanwhile, the government is also expediting the recruitment of additional prison officers to manage the staff shortages plaguing the correctional system. Legal ambiguities stemming from a 2022 law have also created bottlenecks in filing cases, as uncertainty remained over the correct jurisdiction for specific drug-related offences. To resolve this, the government is currently drafting legislative amendments to clearly demarcate court responsibilities based on the volume of narcotics involved. “Therefore, we are currently amending that law so that cases involving drugs generally exceeding 10g are referred to the High Court, and if the amount is below that, they are referred to other lower courts,” Jayatissa said. (Colombo/July 08/2026)