If diesel price soars, operating buses will come to halt: Gemunu

If the prices of diesel keep increasing again, the Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (LPBOA) today hinted that they will be forced to stop operating buses.

LPBOA Chairman Gemunu Wijerathne said stopping the services was a collective decision.

"We cannot run buses if the diesel prices are increased again." We cannot increase the bus fares every time the fuel price go up. If diesel price soar once again, it will affect the prices of all spare parts and accessories, such as tyres, tubes, oil, and grease varieties. With all that, we will not be able to have any profit, "he said.

Therefore, we decided to stop the buses to minimise the losses, "he said.

I have proposed many solutions to reduce traffic congestion and save fuel. They also proposed the government to introduce a pre-paid travel card instead of paying money as bus fare. Still, nothing has been done as yet. " Mr. Wijerathne lamented.

However, he said that the number of passenger buses, around 50% are off the road due to want  of fuel, and in some cases, some buses stop halfway and unable to take its passengers to their destination.

Talking all these into account, the private bus  industry is facing an uphill task to continue serving the public. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)