Bus owners today warned that they would stop bus services if the illegally issued route permits were not withdrawn or cancelled. The Lanka Private bus Owners Association (LPBOA) said that about 250 route permits were illegal.

The association warned that it would go for a strike in the Western Province if illegally given bus route permits were not cancelled.

“About 250 legal route permits are to be issued in the Western Province. There will be major issues of over lapping the routs which would lead to races between busses,” LPBOA President Gemunu Wijeratne said.

He said that they had informed the Private Bus Services Minister about the issue on September 28.

“We will discuss the issue with the Minster again this week. If we were not given positive results, we will organise a strike in the Western Province,” he said.

He said the issuance of route permits for busses on the Southern Expressway was also not carried out in a proper manner.

According to Wijeratne, the issued permits had not been given to the previous bus route owners.

“All the new permits have been issued for new buses and they have been issued over favouration of senior officials in the transport authorities. We will take legal action against these anomalies in permit issuance,” he said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)