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Bus owners complain to IGP about protests

05 Sep 2022

BY Buwanajee Coralage The Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (LPBOA) has lodged a complaint with the Police Headquarters about the recent protests, which it claims has disrupted bus operations. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (4), LPBOA Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said that the complaint was handed over to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) last Thursday (1) describing the inconvenience and loss the sector had to bear due to the blockage of certain roads pertaining to protests, which resulted the bus routes being altered. “We filed the complaint with the IGP last week because for one and half years we couldn’t operate because of Covid-19, and then came these protests and the fuel crisis. Now, generally buses only run for four or five days per week, as much as it used to, within the day. We have asked the authorities to take action against the protests that block public transport services,” said Wijeratne.  Copies of the complaint have been forwarded to the President, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL). Furthermore, Wijeratne stated that with the fuel shortage, private bus owners are very cautious in the usage of the diesel quota provided, and sudden road closures due to protests have disturbed attempts to spare available fuel. With a litre of diesel priced at Rs. 400, he said, fuel cannot be allowed to go to waste, as it directly affects the income of the public transport sector.  Moreover, he revealed that the number of 18,000 buses that were running before Covid-19 has been reduced to 13,000 afterward, with 5,000 buses that have not yet been mended. He stated that only around 90% of the 13,000 buses in the country are in service, while the frequency of repeat journeys of these buses have also reduced. He requested that the authorities do the needful to sustain the livelihoods of the private bus community who are providing their service even amidst this acute fuel crisis.


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