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Stop rhetoric, avert a bus strike
Saturday, 24 July 2010 - 10:03 AM SL Time
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The private bus fraternity is threatening to cripple commuter transport in the Western Province with effect from next Tuesday, unless the Western Provincial Council scraps what the Lanka Private Bus Operators` Association (LPBOA) calls an arbitrary hike in service charges on private buses. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, it is said. The private bus owners should realise how the hapless commuters feel, when they resort to strong arm tactics and have bus fares increased arbitrarily.
Transport Minister Kumar Welgama has said, as we reported yesterday, that the government is ready to face the threatened strike, though it had nothing to do with his ministry. But, the question is how the debt-ridden SLTB with an ailing fleet and the Sri Lanka Railways, which is unable to provide a satisfactory service even on normal days, could cope with an extra load in case of a private bus strike.
A prerequisite for ensuring a hassle free public transport service is to develop the state owned bus and train services and thereby create a healthy competition between the private and public sectors. But, instead of launching an accelerated project to develop the State transport services, the government is busy having the country flooded with cars, vans and SUVs by slashing the excise duties and showering duty free vehicle permits on politicians and some pampered public officials who are responsible for the mess in the public service.
The government is boasting that it will turn this country into Asia`s Wonder in time to come. But, how can it aspire to that kind of lofty goal when the economy is at the mercy of a few thousand bus owners hell bent on fleecing the public and maximising their unconscionable profits? If the LPBOA carries out its threat, all work places in the Western Province will be affected.
The private bus fraternity has risen above the law. The LPBOA itself has admitted that 30-35 per cent of private bus crews in the Western Province are drug addicts. But, what action have the police taken to protect the commuting public against those sick bus crews who are unleashing hell on roads? The government seems to be wary of ruffling the feathers of private bus operators for fear of retaliatory strikes.
Before trying to perform economic miracles, the government should get its act together in the transport sector and ensure that there is a reliable, efficient system of mass transit. The SLTB and the SLR must be developed as a national priority and steps taken to tame the private bus industry. This, however, does not mean that the private bus operators should be crushed under political jackboots.
The government must put its foot down but at the same time see to it that justice is done. The private bus operators should be listened to and their genuine grievances redressed. But, on no ground should trade unions be allowed to hold the public to ransom. Muscle flexing, as is being done by the Western Province Transport Minister Upali Kodikara and LPBOA chief Gemunu Wijeratne, is not the way to settle the present dispute. It looks as if they were trying to settle personal scores.
The Western Provincial Council says it has jacked up service charges on private buses to augment its revenue. It does not seem to be broke if its spending sprees are anything to go by. It is never short of funds when it comes to foreign junkets etc. All its councillors except the JVPers went overseas in batches immediately after the formation of the present council, which had to incur a massive cost as a result. The WPC also had enough funds to donate a state of the art gym to the Presidential Security Division! A great deal of WPC funds goes down the gurgler as is public knowledge.
The LPBOA chairman says that the members of his outfit have to pay protection money on a daily basis. That powerful gangs extract kappan from private buses is only too well known. The WP Transport Minister says the LPBOA should lodge a complaint with the police to that effect. He seems to have a point but why should the government wait until complaints are made to take action. It may be that the bus operators do not want to name the extortionists who are a law unto themselves. A public statement that the LPBOA chief has made on extortion, we believe, is as good as a formal complaint, if the government really wants to act. This newspaper has, on a number of occasions, editorially called for action against extortion rackets being carried out under the nose of the police at main bus stations. Will the government order a crackdown on the kappan gangs?
The WP Transport Minister and the LPBOA chairman have demonstrated that they are incapable of settling the dispute on their own because they are piqued and consumed by animosity. They are not prepared to budge as they consider it infra dig to make compromises. It is imperative that the government step in to solve the problem.
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