Withdraw from services, if sufficient fuel supplies not given: Gemunu

The Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (LPBOA) today said that they will withdraw from services in the next few days if they did not get sufficient fuel and if suitable arrangements were not made.

Addressing the media, its Chairman, Gemunu Wijerathne, said that they have informed the Petroleum Minister and CEYPETCO Chairman in this regard.

Therefore, Wijerathne requested the officials to grant facilities to get fuel through the CEYPETCO, Lanka IOC, and co-operative filling stations while suspending the fuel issuing service from the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) depots.

“Due to internal issues at the SLTB depots, they do not provide us with sufficient fuel to run the service. Therefore, several bus strikes are being held in several areas in the country. Buses are not operating in most of the areas in the country, especially in the Southern Province and several areas in the Western Province, such as in Homagama,” he said. 

“According to the Transport Minister's instructions, a limited number of SLTB depots supply diesel. Other depots used to provide diesel with limited stocks. A maximum of 3,000 buses were operated during the past month, and it is not sufficient to provide a good service for the people,” Wijerathne said. 

"It is sad to say that, even though fuel had been delivered to CEYPETCO filling stations, they refused to provide fuel for our buses." Several fuel stations issued fuel for only Rs.20,000 or Rs.7,000. A bus needs at least 150 litres (Rs.70,000) of diesel per day. "With this situation, we cannot assure that we can provide a sufficient bus service for the people," Wijerathne said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)