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| Sunday, 19 December 2004 |
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Private bus operators suspend strike action by Anton Nonis The Lanka Private Bus Operators' Association (LPBOA) which planned to suspend its bus services due to a budget proposal over an increase of fines on errant drivers, has temporarily called it off, its president, Gemunu Wijeratne, said. The budget proposal was to increase 'spot fines' by 500 per cent with 'Court fines' by 1000 per cent. This would mean an increase on the present fine of Rs. 100 to Rs. 500, Rs. 150 to Rs. 750 and Rs. 200 to Rs. 1000 respectively. The private bus operators had planned to protest by resorting to either a busfare hike or strike action. According to Wijeratne, this time too, it could have been a 'wildcat' style action. According to bus operators, the fine structure had been designed to target the private buses more than other vehicles on the road. An offending driver might be fined Rs. 500 or Rs. 750 or Rs. 1000 even for a minor breach of a road rule which was unreasonable, they have pointed out. However, the private bus operators admit that heavy fines for drunken driving or driving without licence was justifiable, but was opposed to an excessive increase on the spot and court fines. Wijeratne said there were satisfactory results during the discussions they had with Treasury Secretary, P.B. Jayasundara at the Treasury on this matter last week. It was agreed to suspend the new fine structure temporarily which was due to be implemented from January 1, 2005. It was also decided to refer the issue to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga for a final solution. |
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