Associated Press

Colombo, May 23:

Police in and around the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, are being told to patrol on bicycle to save on fuel after the government asked several departments to cut consumption by 25 per cent, a police spokesman said here today. Sri Lanka’s police chief, Chandra Fernando, has ordered 500 bicycles be purchased for the patrols in Colombo and its suburbs, said police spokesman Rienzie Perera. Fuel prices in the island country of Sri Lanka have gone up by more than 30 per cent in recent months, prompting the government to restrict fuel use.

This tropical island imports all the fuel it uses.