Editorial - Fuel price, lies and traffic chaos
8 March 2013 06:30 pm
A few days ago we highlighted the manner in which the people were deluded into believing that the recent increase in fuel prices was justified by the increase of crude oil imported from Saudi Arabia. The price quoted by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) was US$113 a barrel. We pointed out that this information was incorrect, as the price quoted was that of Brent crude which is a Premium quality crude and has no bearing on the actual cost of the crude we import from Saudi Arabia. That is of a lower grade and is classified as Western Texas Intermediary and is invariably about US$20 below Brent crude.
The price of Saudi crude was less on Thursday -- $89.80 a barrel.
The people believe the CPC's falsehood because they do not know the real prices which are posted hourly on the internet. As a result, transport costs and the cost of living are soaring.
To make matters worse, many roads in Colombo are being rebuilt and the existing roadway which can hardly contain the current overflow of traffic today is being allocated to widening the pavement. One such case is Darley Road at the junction of Arnold Ratnayake Mawatha. A bus stop has been in existence almost opposite the median strip adjacent to the traffic lights and this has resulted in buses blocking the movement of the traffic flow.
Darley Road is now being dug up on the side of the Fire Brigade and the Bus Stop and this is being allocated for wider pavements. This is a folly, as the number of pedestrians on the existing pavement does not justify any widening. If this is implemented throughout Darley Road chaos will result, as there will be no space for the many school vans to park outside St Joseph’s College.
Worsening this situation, the timing of the traffic lights has been further adjusted resulting in a complete freeze of traffic either way for about 15 seconds per cycle thus causing a huge traffic jam. The loss in fuel alone would work out to millions not to mention the loss of precious time. It is sad that more attention is not given to the management of the flow of traffic at this and other junctions where there are traffic lights.
We urgently need a Central Authority with trained officers for a more rational management of traffic. Most of the traffic lights were set up about 25 years ago and their timing suited traffic conditions at that period, but are not relevant today. These and other problems could be eased if people with basic intelligence are called in to handle them.