No bus fair hike till April 30
by Omar RAJARATHNAM
The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association Gemunu
Wijerathne told the Sunday Observer that there would be no increase in
the current bus fares until April 30.
"I have written a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa two weeks ago
stating our demands clearly and I said that we need a response by April
30. If a satisfactory response is received we will not go for a fare
hike even until the end of July and this will give the authorities
enough time to sort out the logistics, failing which we will take
further action" he said.
According to Wijerathne, the letter says that the administrative
authorities of the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central provincial
transport authorities' heads be replaced, the number of route permits
being granted in these provinces be controlled to avoid overcapacity, a
robust time table be immediately implemented to optimise the frequency
of buses and if all fails a fuel subsidy be provided to compensate for
the recent rise in the fuel price. "We have always maintained that the
Government transport authorities and the private bus sector join hands
to uplift the standards of the country's transport which is not very
satisfactory at present but our willingness to co-operate has gone
unnoticed. Hence, this time I decided to take the issue to the President
directly to achieve a better outcome" he said.
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