Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus operations in the North came to a halt on Wednesday, as workers from the six other bus depots in the North also joined the Vavuniya bus depot workers who launched the strike from Monday.
The strike commenced following a decision made by Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Vigneshwaran to close down the SLTB bus terminal in Vavuniya.
SLTB workers in the Vavuniya bus depot expressed their unwillingness to relocate to a new bus terminal which was built at a cost of Rs.200 million. This had apparently prompted the Chief Minister to close the SLTB bus terminal.
Although several attempts were made to commence bus services from the new bus depot, they were unsuccessful owing to issues between private bus employees and employees of the SLTB.
Chief Minister C.V. Vigneshwaran ordered that all bus services be moved to the new depot from January 1. Private bus operators are also reluctant to move to the new bus terminal.
Bus operators in both private and SLTB are now holding discussions to resolve this problem and they expect to find a solution through Courts today.
Meanwhile, relevant parties will meet the Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Vigneshwaran today to discuss the matter.
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