All private buses will withdraw from operation across the country from midnight today (04) due to the lack of sufficient diesel and the decision to slash bus fares without any notice or negotiation, revealed the Private Bus Owners Association calling in a joint press briefing today.
Contributing to the briefing, Chief Secretary of the Private Bus Owners Association Anjana Priyanjith noted that 40 litres of diesel are supplied for a bus per week under the new QR Code system and the volume does not suffice for bus operations at all. He added that with the volume of diesel currently supplied, a long-distance service bus can run for about an hour and a short-distance bus, half the day time.
Should the government fail to provide diesel for the daily running of 13,000 buses, it should declare the number of buses that ought to run per day and provide diesel meeting the demand, Priyanjith went on, adding that the government, however, fails to do that as well.
Accordingly, the islandwide private bus strike will be endorsed by the All Ceylon Private Bus Owners Association, Inter-Provincial Bus Owners Association, Podujana Eksath Bus Owners Association and the All Ceylon United Bus Owners Association.
MIAP
