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by Subash Wickramasinghe

It has now become a common occurrence for the private bus operators to initiate strike action in order to win the owners' rights. It seems to be the first occasion where owners of business organizations canvass their own workers to go on strike to win the benefits for the owners. In the proper sense the employer is the operator and the conductors and the drivers are the employees. But in a strange co-habitation the employer joins the employees and agitates to get what the employer wants through the government and consider government as the employer.

The private bus operators apparently are worried about their convenience only. They are simply not bothered about the basic facilities for the travelling public. In a way not only the travelling public even the conductor and the driver is not looked after properly. In some cases they use temporary workers. No worker-rights for them. Is it because the conductors and drivers are not treated well that they in turn abuse the travellers? It is a fact that they have their own road rules and mannerisms. They stop wherever they wanted disregarding the very basic rules of the highway code. They never show a semblance of decency to their passengers. They are allowed to take passengers without tickets for reasons best known to the operators. In turn the driver and the conductors may take that advantage and load the buses to the maximum and earn a fast buck by giving a fixed amount as day's earnings to the operator and retaining the excess money with the driver and the conductor. This is a clear case of "you scratch mine and I will scratch yours". Both survive at the cost of innocent travelling public. As a result of the governmental iron hand not being used to control the haphazard way they operate and not having a proper controlling authority the private operator and the busmen have become a law unto themselves. The only occasion government flexes its muscles are to deny the right to increase fare. Whether it is due to ever rising fuel prices and the spare parts or any other reason the government maintains that bus fares cannot be raised as and when the operators want that be done because any Sri Lankan government considers itself as the provider of all basic necessities.

If we look back and compare the pre seventies era to present day we obviously see the drastic changes that have taken place. The problem, it seems, is not the drastic change that has come to stay. But the speed at which it has come to stay with us. We are not ready to embrace the changes. It seems to be too much for us. When the economy is open, it is like keeping the windows open. One has to expect all sorts of things that come through the windows. But Sri Lanka opened its windows to the world abruptly and winds of change came in like a thunderstorm and Lankans did not know what to do.

The private bus operator is a case in point. Even with one else purchased bus, the owner (not the absolute) became the operator. He got hold of a man how knew how to drive without having even seen the Highway Code and a boy as the conductor.

As for the government it was a blessing. For people too it was a blessing at the beginning. Later it became a hindrance for both. At present there are 15,000 private buses as against 7000 state owned buses. This is a clear case of allowing a mass transport system to grow without proper infrastructure in place. For these 15000 private buses there are no proper parking places. Some buses park on the pavement. Some junctions and adjoining roads are completely obstructed by these buses as they park the buses during non-peak hours on the road itself. They operate during peak hours only.

The authorities past and present have not thought of providing the necessary infrastructure for these buses. They are everywhere and occupying all public places. No proper parking system. No proper timetable for running, No night running, No limit to loading, No proper supervisory system. No proper ticketing system. No guidelines at all. They were given birth and allowed to grow haphazardly, now it is an uncontrollable giant and law unto itself. They dictate terms to governments too. This is the result of opening the windows without making proper precautions and facilities. This sort of thing happening is inevitable under an open system without guidelines and without proper authority to control them. The iron hand with velvet glove should have been introduced at the beginning.

On the other hand, under the open economic system, the government must give the operators an opportunity to engage in a profitable business under laid down rules and regulations and at the same time to impose strict conditions to safeguard the commuters and their rights. If a bus operator or whoever he is, given the option under the open economy to start a profitable venture, they should be able to earn a profit. Otherwise they will either plan a way to earn a fast buck or wilt under the pressure.

What the government has to look into, is whether the passengers are inconvenienced or not, comfortable or not.

Under the assumption that state cannot do business to earn profit, such state sector services can offer their services to the general public at a very minimum rate, thus giving fantastic competition to the private sector.

Under such circumstances the private businesses, be they bus operators or consumer products suppliers they will be compelled to provide excellent superior service to be in business or else they will be vanished into thin air. Even now some consumer goods are available in the way side shops at a reduced rate but same product may be available in the so-called supermarkets at a higher rate, giving the consumer an option to select where to buy what. No restrictions imposed by the state. That is exactly what is expected in an open economy. Take for example the prices of bread from Rs. 11/- the price goes up to about Rs. 26/-. All those who sell loaves of bread at various prices have their own regular customers. Let the consumer or the customer decide what he or she wants. If the bread that is sold at Rs. 26/- is not up to the mark, the consumer will reject it. The state cannot impose and fix prices permanently as we are living in a global village. We have to change according to the winds of change. When the state gives a free hand (and supervise it) the private sector adjusts accordingly and survive. In the case of bread, when the price was fixed by the state, the retailers or the bakeries reduced the weight of the loaf and sold it at the state controlled price. Ultimately it was the consumer who suffered as a result of the state going the extra mile to placate the voter population. That is why it was argued whether free economy came to us too fast. It should have been introduced gradually. An elected government always wants to placate the voters and at the same time develop the economy. The "lost price" of the bread is case in point.

At this stage if the state tries to impose its iron hand on the bus operators, the same thing that happened to bread price will happen. So what has to be done at the moment is to revive the state giant (CAB/SLTB) and offer the services at cost. This is not the time for SLTB also to jack up prices to adjust losses. The fight at hand is to provide the travelling public a decent way to get from place to place. It was mentioned in the local press that Peoples Bank had shown a turn around profit after restructuring. That is what the SLTB needs. Once the SLTB is alive and kicking the private operators will be compelled to provide a star class service to match their high fares or reduce their fares to match SLTB fares. If that is impossible the private operator will perish. That is how the fittest survive in the open economy. The state cannot always feed and support. The state has to provide the suitable climate and infrastructure for the people to start up business ventures and survive. That is the duty of the state.

Under these circumstances it would not be prudent for the state to always fix the bus fares and ignore the state bus organization and allow it to die. Revive the SLTB which did an excellent service by doing the late night runs as well. The private operators never do the way SLTB did the late night runs. The private buses vanish with the sunsets. So introduce a set of firm guidelines to the private operators to ensure the comfort and the safety of the travelling public. Also see that they adhere to the Highway Code and issue tickets.

Maintain a fleet of state controlled (SLTB) buses at a reduced fare for the people who cannot patronize private buses. Allowing the SLTB also to be privatised and run by foreigners or locals will not be the solution. If that happens the state will lose the only available facility to look after the poor travelling public. The businessman who takes over the SLTB will not fix rates/fares to please the government or the public. What happened to the bread pricing policy is an example.

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