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Fifty buses to North

by Ranil Wijayapala

Fifty buses will be sent to depots in Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna districts to strengthen public transport in the North with the opening of the A9 highway on April 8, State Transport Minister Piyasoma Upali told the Daily News yesterday.

The Minister said 10 of the buses will be sent along with the peace marathon which is due to commence from Independence Square on April 4. The other buses will be sent to Mannar, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna in due course, the Minister added.

The Ministry will also deploy 10 airconditioned buses on the Jaffna - Colombo route from April 8 with the opening of the road up to Jaffna, the Minister added.

The Transport Ministry shipped Rs.10 million worth of spare parts to repair buses in various depots of the Jaffna peninsula in the first week of this month. The National Transport Commission (NTC) has also been directed to expedite the granting of route permits to private bus operators for the Jaffna - Colombo bus service.

The Minister said 125 bus owners have sought route permits from the NTC to run buses between the two cities. "If there is an excessive number of buses we will take steps to provide route permits for them to run services to Mullaitivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi considering the situation," the Minister added.

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