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Southern private buses to North

by Rajmi Manatunga

Private buses will start operating in the LTTE held areas of the North and East within the next two or three days. The decision has been taken after discussions between a representative of the Private Bus Owners Association and the Leader of the LTTE transport division three days back in the North.

Chairman of the PBOA Gemunu Wijeratne told the Daily News that the proposal seeking Government assistance for the restoration of transport services in the region will be forwarded to the Prime Minister today. "The LTTE had permitted private buses to operate in their area earlier under certain conditions. The principal condition was that our Northbound buses should stop at Omanthai where the LTTE transport service will take up the task and return it to private bus operators at Muhamalai. But we wanted to have our own direct service to the North and East," he said. The LTTE has informed the PBOA agent that they cannot deprive the Northern bus operators of their income by allocating the transport service of the entire route to private bus operators. That is why we came to a compromise and agreed to a joint transport service with the LTTE, Wijeratne said adding that there will be no obstacle to implementing the proposal as the LTTE is now debanned.

Questioned on LTTE taxes, Wijeratne admitted that it was a crucial matter and said that the LTTE was willing to refrain from taxing buses if they are provided with assistance for developing the area.

A bus ride from Colombo to the North now costs nearly Rs 1,200 per person. The Association said they hoped to provide a service for a reasonable fare which will be finalised by the National Transport Commission.

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