Passenger Transport Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has given representatives of the semi-luxury bus service one week’s time to show cause to the National Transport Commission as to why their service should not be scrapped as requested by a majority of bus commuters.
Minister Amaraweera issued this directive at a meeting held with several representatives of semi-luxury bus services at the Ministry on January 1.
The Minister told the representatives that the National Transport Commission had done a survey among 10,000 bus commuters asking their opinion about the semi-luxury bus service and 68 percent had demanded the scrapping of the service saying it served no propose, while another eight percent had said they boarded such buses without their knowledge.
A media release by the Ministry said that during the discussion, the representatives had requested the Minister to allow them to continue their services by renaming it as ‘limited stop service’.
Minister Amaraweera had said it could not be permitted as the bus fares would remain the same as for the semi-luxury service.
The Minister said that if the semi-luxury service is allowed to continue, it should comply with the guidelines issued by the National Transport Commission by taking passengers according to seating capacity, provide suitable headrests for the seats, and adhere to the limited stops.
The representatives who remained silent on this issue had requested the Minister to allow them to continue with their service without allowing it to break down.
The Minister in reply had said the government had no intention to disrupt any bus service, but since a majority of commuters had wanted the service to be scrapped the Ministry could not allow it to fleece the public without providing any added facilities in keeping with the added fare.
Minister Amaraweera had requested the representatives to show cause to the National Transport Commission within a week as to why their service should not be scrapped. Thereafter the Ministry would take a final decision about the service within a week depending on the recommendation of the National Transport Commission.
Ministry Secretary Gamini Seneviratne was also present at the discussions.
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