Around 2500 buses will be added to the Sri Lanka Transport Board bus fleet by the end of this year, Passenger Transport Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.
During an inspection tour of the Meetotamulla bus depot, the Minister noticed that only 50 buses out of 75 total buses in running condition and only 25 -30 buses run daily due to the shortage of drivers and conductors. The ongoing promotion and transfer procedure has been badly affected for the shortage of drivers and conductors.
Considering this situation, Minister Amaraweera instructed SLTB Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka to temporarily suspend the promotions and transfers until further notice.
Minister further said that the government has already implemented a special plan to uplift the SLTB. According to that the cabinet approval has already been received for the proposal made to import 500 buses. Discussions have also been conducted to import 2000 low floor buses within this year.