Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunge yesterday blamed Finance Ministry officials for delaying the import of 2,000 new luxury buses by the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB). He said he was struggling in the Cabinet for the past one and a half months to obtain approval for this project, because Finance Ministry officials were delaying it.
“I am a minister of this government. If I cannot import luxury buses for the benefit of the travelling public, what is the use of me being the minister?” Ranatunge queried.
The Minister, speaking to media after attending a programme held in Dompe yesterday, said the SLTB was a public institution dedicated to public transport and therefore, providing a better service to the public was its main purpose, rather than earning profits.
“The project to import new 2,000 luxury buses for the SLTB is one of the major projects being carried out by the Transport and Civil Aviation Ministry to strengthen the SLTB fleet,” he said.
“We cannot upgrade the public transport system with lorry-chassis-buses.Therefore, we imported nine luxury buses as a trial and they have good demand,”he said.
Finance Ministry officials do not like to import these 2,000 luxury buses. But, they are keen to support the private sector to import luxury buses, the minister charged. However, Finance Ministry’s Public Enterprise Department Director General Thilaka Jayasundara said she could make any comment without knowing Minister Ranatunga’s remarks.
SLTB is Sri Lanka’s largest provider of public transport and offers state-subsidised cheap bus services as a public service. The Board currently operates a fleet of 5,800 buses through its regional branch services.
The nine luxury buses already purchased cost Rs.17 million each, according to these sources.