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| Sunday, 2 June 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Reasonable fare hike to appease bus owners by Deepal Warnakulasuriya State Transport Minister Piyasoma Upali pledged that bus owners will be assisted with a reasonable fare hike once the drafted National Transport Policy is approved by the Cabinet within two to three weeks. The Minister also stressed that the National Transport Commission and the Provincial Transport Authorities will be keen on the quality of the private bus service as soon as the fare hike comes into effect. This was revealed in a meeting held at the Transport Ministry premises last week which had been arranged to gather views of the private sector bus operators in respect of the draft National Transport Policy. The All Ceylon Private Omnibus Operators' Federation had earlier demanded a fare hike of 25 per cent and the Lanka Private Bus Owners Association (LPBOA) had demanded that the Ministry increase bus fares by 30 per cent or bring in a National Transport Policy. While the Federation agreed to wait till the policy is approved, the LPBOA was indignant at the meeting for a fare hike within a week. According to the drafted policy, 15 per cent of the hike will be levied and the minimum charges of Rs. 3 and 4 most probably will not be changed. However, the Minister promised to apprise the Prime Minister of the policy and get Cabinet approval for it. Issuing correct price-marked tickets to passengers, discipline of bus drivers and conductors and operating the service on scheduled time frames were also discussed at the meeting. The Minister also asked the private bus operators to meet him again next Wednesday to discuss the development of the procedure. The National Transport Policy had been drafted by a special committee headed by Dr. Amal Kumarage, a lecturer at Moratuwa University who said that the policy was drafted after taking into consideration all areas which bus owners have to cover. The Minister appreciated the participation of public representatives to claim their grievances in the private bus service. |
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