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Peoplised transport companies to come under consolidated administration - Upali

The six peoplised transport companies in which 39 per cent equity stakes were bought by a British consortium of transport consultants, will come under a consolidated administration from January 1 next year.

State Transport Minister Piyasoma Upali revealed this when he attended a ceremony held at the Sri Lanka-German Technical Training Institute, Ratmalana to mark the re-starting of full time training courses by it on Thursday.

The Minister said the sale of shares in these bus companies did not amount to privatisation. The Government will continue to maintain the ownership of these companies. What has been done is to bring in a foreign company to infuse capital into these companies which had depleted funds.

Minister Upali emphasised that the Government had maintained 51 shares in these peoplised companies. Another 10 per cent shares have been reserved for workers. Only 39 per cent shares have been sold to the British company. This state-private sector arrangement will be extended to cover other peoplised transport companies as well during its second stage of operations.

The Minister said the public transport system would have come to a total standstill if these peoplised companies were allowed to operate on their own for a few more years, without sufficient capital.

The new British company will now infuse new capital to these peoplised companies in the form of vehicles and training.

Double Decker buses will soon be introduced to the roads to ease the problem of overloading. The Minister said he was certain that no one would oppose these measures taken to offer a better deal to commuters.

The Minister said the Government is planning to develop the railway too on similar lines soon.

The Sri Lanka-German Technical Training Institute which produced quality technicians from 1985 to 1994 had remained dormant thereafter. Since 1994 it had completely stopped the practice of providing full and part-time courses for external students and become a place reserved for railway employees only.

The new management has now re-started these full time and part-time training courses for persons recruited from outside as well as weekend and evening classes for those already employed.

Referring to the 2003 budget the Minister said it has set apart a large amount of funds for the purchase of machinery and equipment needed by farmers, small time entrepreneurs and industrialists. This would create a big demand for trained technicians in the near future.

He said German assistance would also be sought to improve the Railway Technical Training School which has re-started operations.

General Manager of Railways Priyal de Silva was also present on the occasion. 

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