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Poor management causes high fuel costs

28 Aug 2022

By Vinu Opanayake    Poorly-managed public transportation is one of the culprits behind Sri Lanka’s colossal fuel import bill, The Sunday Morning learns. Long-term shortcomings in the public transport sector have convinced commuters about the need for personal transport, with many preferring to use a vehicle of their own to ensure a comfortable daily commute, thereby increasing the fuel consumption of the country. While public transport reforms are often discussed, the speed of the implementation of proposals that are discussed or pledged is considerably slower than the rate of discussions that take place on the need for public sector reforms.    Reforms start with fair rates   Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, the founding Chair of LIRNEasia, an ICT policy and regulation think tank active across emerging Asia, told The Sunday Morning that even though bus fares had been increased many times in the past few years to reflect the increase in local prices, train fares had more or less remained at the same level until recently, thereby causing losses to the Department of Railways.  He explained that when a repair occured on the railway tracks, the cost to fix it was added to the Department of Railways’ expenses, whereas when a road was repaired, that cost not was not shifted onto public or private buses or any other vehicles travelling on that road.  “This is an active discrimination of the railways. In Basil Rajapaksa’s Budget, the second largest expenditure next to defence was highways. Highways are being developed here and there, but the Government does not understand the need for better public transport,” Prof. Samarajiva stated.  Emphasising that public transport reforms should begin with fair rates, Prof. Samarajiva asserted that the Government should increase the rates and utilise that money to make investments that were aimed at improving the quality of Sri Lanka’s public transport.  “For decades, public transport has been the only gain for the people, but it was allowed to deteriorate due to populist context. Buses will not run on time if they are not maintained well and the same goes for trains. From the 1950s onwards, the Government has not invested enough in public transport. It was just operating as it is,” he added.  According to him, 61% of imported fuel goes towards transport. “Unless we get the transport problem under control, we have a massive percentage going for cars, three-wheelers, etc. Most of the vehicles in this country are two-wheelers and three-wheelers. They are much more efficient than cars, but they are greater in number. Unless people are encouraged to leave their vehicles at home and take public transport, you will have this very high consumption of petrol regardless of whatever measures are imposed,” Prof. Samarajiva stated.     No attempts to invest   Meanwhile, a senior economist from a leading think tank told The Sunday Morning that the issue behind Sri Lanka’s poor public transport was that the country had not made any proper attempts to invest, apart from trivial, basic-level investments that were made in the past few years.  The economist noted that Sri Lanka could have invested heavily in the railways and stated that it was a highly-underutilised asset. “We are building roads all over, but we have not invested in the transport system. Professor Amal Kumarage has done effective studies, but none of these measures he has suggested have been properly implemented. Policymakers should be asked why they have not even taken a look at these studies and proposals. They are hesitant to implement changes. This issue has been there for many decades. Poor policies have brought our public transport here,” the economist noted.    Unsolved transport crisis   According to University of Moratuwa Department of Transport and Logistics Management Senior Prof. Amal Kumarage, the prevailing situation is not just a fuel crisis but also an expression of a transport crisis that Sri Lanka has not solved. “This is not only a USD crisis, but also a result of poor investment in infrastructure that has not actually produced any USD-based income. It is also not only a rupee crisis but a mismanagement of taxes and subsidies and Government expenditure.” With regard to the options available to Sri Lanka when it comes to reducing fuel imports for the transport sector, he said that in a context where queues certainly needed to be addressed, rationing was one of the options that were available. In that regard, he said that there would be obvious issues with rationing, such as black market activities and rationing inequalities, which the country would have to deal with. Another matter that was pointed out was fuel price hikes, which Prof. Kumarage opined may not be an option at this juncture, despite the fact that Sri Lanka had already opted for it. Sri Lanka incidentally has one of the lowest pump prices for a country that does not produce fuel (petroleum). Speaking of other solutions, he raised concerns as to whether Sri Lanka could reduce the use of vehicles that utilise a considerable amount of fuel and whether the country could opt for alternative fuel types. Whether the country can implement the second option in the short term is another concern that he pointed out. Prof. Kumarage added: “These are the opportunities and constraints we have to sort out with regard to fuel issues in the short to medium term. Where the country is concerned, I think that many motorists spend hours getting their fuel tanks filled and then carry on in the way they operated earlier, before the fuel crisis, until their tanks are empty. This crisis is unlikely to go away soon and therefore some adjustments on the part of consumers are also necessary, along with Government interventions in a planned manner.”   Prioritise investment in public transport   Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Master Hellie’s Engineering Consultants Ltd. Chairman/CEO and Chartered Civil Engineer Dr. Tissa Liyanage stated that any investment in the public transportation sector had to be given priority by the Government.  He stated that investing in public transport was the most effective way to preserve fuel and noted that a responsible minister or secretary had to be assigned to take care of only bus transport at least.  “In a nutshell, these issues are due to the disregarding of expert opinions and selecting the wrong people to provide advice. We can manage the transport system better even with the number of buses we have at the moment, but it has to be done in a proper manner. The public transportation system has been given low priority and this has led people with some wealth to obtain and use their own vehicles. If you go to Singapore, public transport receives the highest priority and operating one’s own vehicle is very costly,” he added.    Govt. looking into railway problems   Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Transport, Highways, and Mass Media told The Sunday Morning that subject Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena had recently looked into problems pertaining to Sri Lanka’s railways and the Ministry was in the process of compiling a report on the issues and finding permanent fixes. He added that the Ministry was also looking at modernising certain railway lines and cutting down the time taken for train travel.  Attempts to reach Minister Gunawardena proved futile.     Improved public transport needed   According to a research paper compiled by the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, 87.1% of vehicles on our roads comprise private transport, including cars, motorbikes, and three-wheelers. In contrast, a mere 5.7% of vehicles comprise public transport, including main buses. The number of private vehicles on our streets significantly surpasses the minimum number requested for a smooth flow of traffic. The research paper titled ‘An Analysis of Community Attitudes Towards the Environmentally-Friendly Public Transport System in Sri Lanka’ published in 2018 suggests that the inefficiency of the public transportation system is adversely impacting every single citizen. This negative impact can be reduced by introducing a more efficient and effective transport system, which will lead to a decreased number of vehicles and address the matter of heavy traffic jams as well.


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