Parliament

CTB bill approved, time now to get show on the roads
By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent
After much ado parliament on Tuesday approved the Bill to re establish the Central Transport Board, with 123 members voting for and eight against.
Apart from the Tamil National Alliance which voted against the bill the main parties in the Legislature backed the move for the re establishment of the CTB.

The draft Bill underwent several changes to include amendments proposed by the UNP and the JVP before finally securing the seal of approval after a two-day debate ending with acting Transport Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna assuring to almost double the number of existing buses by December and thereby provide an efficient public bus transport service for the people.

The Bill was hurriedly brought to parliament after President Chandrika Kumaratunga removed Felix Perera as Transport Minister last month and took over the ministry in the wake of the increasing wave of strikes by private bus operators virtually crippling public transport on many occasions.
During the course of the debate private bus operators came in for harsh criticism by many MPs including Constitutional Affairs Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera.

Mr.Gunasekera said the private bus operators had taken the law into their own hands and as a result the passengers were being harassed.
“When the private bus service was started, with the intention of improving the service, it brought about the collapse of the entire state-operated service. Even in developed countries the transport sector is kept under state control as transport directly affects the economy”, he said.

JVP parliamentarian Wasantha Samarasinghe said the fate that befell the CTB has befallen many state institutions that were privatised and with the state re establishing an institution under its control gives credence to the JVP’s argument that some sectors need to be retained under state control.
“There is a mafia operating in the transport sector with huge political interference and this was evident when even the Minister-in-charge of the subject lost his job”, he said.

Felix Perera, who was appointed as Railways Minister after the Transport Ministry was taken away from him, said he had attempted to reform the state sector but the non availability of spare parts for necessary repairs had resulted in many buses lying idle at depots and the lack of cooperation by some Ministry officials had not helped his attempts either.

He said what was needed was an efficient service by the state sector if it was to compete with private buses. TNA MPs opposed the Bill on the grounds that centralising the transport sector would not help people in the north and east and what was needed was de-centralisation.

“The changes may help people in the south but the people in the north and east have a very poor public transport system and this Bill is unlikely to help resolve their problems”, Jaffna district parliamentarian M. Sivajilingam said.
One of the main concerns expressed by the UNP and JVP parliamentarians was the welfare of the employees of the existing National Transport Commission and the peoplised bus companies which were established in 1991.

UNP parliamentarian Joseph Michael Perera said the rights of the workers must be guaranteed with the new law coming into force including the provision for their provident fund entitlements. He added that all employees, irrespective of their political affliations, should be treated in a fair manner.

Deputy Transport Minister Alagiyawanna who has been appointed acting Minister – in the absence of President Kumaratunga, who is on a visit to China – said not a single employee of the Board will lose his or her job because of the new Bill.

The acting Minister said there was no need to fear the centralisation of the transport Board either as it was meant to provide a better service to commuters. He said that by December, 2000 new buses would be added to the existing fleet of 3000 and some 1,500 buses now lying idle, minus spare parts, would be repaired and put on the roads again.

Mr. Alagiyawanna did not forget to add a word of caution though.
“Don’t expect an about-turn in the bus service overnight because the changes will take time”, he said. It is highly unlikely that the harassed bus commuters will be holding their breath till the system changes for the better.

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