Bus fares, fare prominently in House

The recent bus fare hike figured prominently in the proceedings last week. Government ranks who responded to a statement made by DNA Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake urged the Opposition to be more cautious when commenting on the transport sector and accused the JVP of attempting to make use of the recent bus fare hike for their ultimate goal of destabilizing the country.

The subject of public transport turned into a hot topic in the House when Private Transport Services Minister C.B. Ratnayake responded to a statement made by DNA MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the recent bus fare hike made in keeping with the increase of the fuel prices. Transport Minister Kumara Welgama who also made certain references to MP Dissanayake's statement and criticized what he called moves of the JVP to destabilize the country.

MP Dissanayake in his statement queried if the actual percentage of this bus fare hike was 15.8 percent, why was the bus fare increased by a higher percentage of 20 percent. He described this as a complete violation of the policy formulated to revise the bus fares in 2002.

Minister Ratnayake who responded to the MP in an emotional manner accused him of using this bus fare issue to gain political mileage. The Minister told the House the ulterior motive of the JVP is to turn the country into disarray. This led to some heated arguments between the Minister and the MP.

The Minister making an emotional speech alleged the intention of the JVP is to turn another innocent person into a victim and take undue advantage from that death. The Minister requested the MP not to resort to such acts to realize their narrow objectives. Amidst disturbances by MP Dissanayake, the Minister who continued his speech said the JVP attempts to mislead the people and take them to the streets.

Transport Minister Kumara Welgama who also interrupted the DNA MP's statement told him the policy to revise the bus fare was formulated in 2002 and a lot of progress has been made in the transport sector since then. Minister Welgama also referred about this bus fare hike when he introduced new regulations in Parliament to implement a driver-improvement points system. The Minister who also spoke in favour of the comments made by his colleague C.B. Ratnayake explained the reason for the 20 percent hike.

Minister Welgama made the point that if the bus fare was increased by 15.8 percent, an opportunity would have arisen for another bus strike by July this year. Actually this is what the JVP wants to do. But the JVP was not able to realize their ultimate goal due to the decision taken to increase the bus fare by 20 percent.

He assured the House that in this context there is no possibility whatsoever to increase the bus fare within a period of one year. Though this has become a good move for passengers, the JVP has been disappointed as they are not in a position to give the leadership to another bus strike within a year.

The Minister was of the view that this fare hike has not seriously affected commuters. He told the House that people need to travel in luxury without waiting on roads for buses for hours. In fact, people were falling over each other to get into the newly introduced luxury urban buses, he noted.

Minister Welgama in his speech stressed the need for focusing attention on the private bus sector which has 23,000 buses. He explained the difficulties faced by passengers if private buses are not operated. In the wake of some lightning strikes launched by private bus operators, the fleet of 5000 CTB buses was not adequate to cater to the transport requirements of the people.

The Minister requested Opposition Parliamentarians to be more concerned about the transport sector. The Minister reiterated that if the transport sector is destabilised, it would definitely lead to the destabilisation of the entire country. He said actually this is what the JVP intends to do.

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage created suspense among Parliamentarians following his witty answer to an oral question raised by UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera on the Rangiri Dambulu Stadium. The Minister said a friend of MP Jayasekera in the Government side has provided him wrong information about the Dambulla stadium.

However, MP Jayasekera queried from the Minister as to who this friend was. Minister Aluthgamage told the House in a lighter vein, that Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is the friend of MP Jayasekera. But MP Jayasekera asked the Minister as to how could he claim the Opposition Leader belongs to the Government. The Minister told the MP in lighter vein that the Opposition Leader belongs to the Government, noting that several UNP MPs had accused Wickremesinghe of 'Kade Yanawa' (doing work) for the Government.

He told the House his wish is that the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe should remain in his position for another hundred years.

MP Jayasekera in a supplementary question said if Dambulla is not used to play cricket, at least it should be used to play football. Minister Aluthgamage told the MP if he can form two teams led by Ranil and Sajith, a football match can be played at Dambulla.

A reply given by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama to an oral question raised by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake noted that the Government has effectively utilised the loans obtained for development. He also explained to the House how the Government's capability of repaying loans has increased.

The Minister said investments are made within the country, based on various policy decisions taken by the Government. If there are any shortcomings of those policies, the Opposition can submit their details to the relevant institutions. Dr. Amunugama noted it has become a practice of some Opposition MPs to express various views once the reply is given to their oral questions with the sole intention of publishing them in the media. Dr. Amunugama said Ministers are bound only to answer the relevant questions. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa also requested MP Karunanayake to raise the issue in the form of a question without making extensive remarks on those questions to be asked. The Speaker told the MP to learn from his party colleague former Speaker Joseph Michael Perera on how to raise questions in Parliament in a proper manner.