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Private bus owners demand fare hike: No way says government
The
Minister said that the government would not dance to the tune of LPBOA
and it was ready to face any type of situation. Seeking legal redress
was quite reasonable, but the unfair demand to increase bus fares was
aimed at harassing both the government and the public, he said. In the wake of the recent diesel price increase,
the Lanka Private Bus Owners Association (LPBOA) is demanding a 15 per
cent increase in bus fares. Sourse: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=24589
Gemunu Wijeratne President of the LPBOA told The Island that they would campaign for a fare revision effective July 1.
The
LPBOA has given the National Transport Commission time until May 31 to
revise the fares. If it failed to do so the LPBOA would take legal
action against the NTC, he said. Speaking to the media, at the
Narahenpita Women’s Centre on Wednesday (4), Wijeratne said that
whenever the LPBOA wanted NTC intervention to resolve a myriad of
issues affecting the private bus industry, it would talk but not act.
The previous plea of LPBOA to appoint qualified personnel to the NTC
and Western Province Road Passenger Transport Authority had also fallen
on deaf ears. The LPBOA would be compelled to take the issue to the
Supreme Court, he said.
He said the minimum bus
fare of Rs. 6 should be increased to Rs. 9. It was a reasonable demand
because the price of diesel had gone up suddenly and all bus operators
had been affected, he said adding that The LPBOA was trying its best
to resolve the issue without causing problems to passengers.
Under the present circumstances it was extremely essential to introduce a 15 per cent fare increase, he said.
Wijeratne
charged that the government in 2010 had given Rs. 8.4 billion to the
SLTB at Rs. 5,750 per bus per day. It was an injustice meted out to the
private bus industry.
Western Province
Transport Minister Upali Kodikara said that the LPBOA’s demand to
increase bus fares by 15 per cent was unreasonable. LPBOA used to
threaten the government with strikes and now it wanted the Supreme Court
to resolve its issues. The government would not budge an inch to
revise bus fare as people would be affected, he said.
Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2011 @ 02:00:32 LKT
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