Archives

He worked tirelessly to develop land transport for the common man in Sri Lanka

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport released this article on the late Mr. John Diandas on 15 July, 2003 on his death anniversary.

Dr. John Diandas universally known as "Mr. Transport" passed away on 15 July, 2002. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing him well, always remember his wonderful qualities, dedication, desire to serve the country and the community without expecting anything in return. Mr. Diandas was the perfect professional with a humane heart who stood by his principles throughout his life.

Mr. John Diandas' versatility was such that though his principal vocation was Accountancy, being a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Senior partner of A. I. Macan Markar & Co. Chartered Accountants, he functioned as an Independent Transport Consultant, carrying out various assignments in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries, particularly in the West. In Sri Lanka, no major study or project related to land transport was complete without inputs from Mr. Diandas. His services were sought by Government Institutions, Foreign Donor Agencies, World Bank, Private Consultancy Firms, Research Institutions, individual consultants and students of Transport because of the high regard they had for his extensive knowledge, experience and expertise. Mr. Diandas, when entrusted with a task put in his heart and soul into it and never rested until it was completed to the satisfaction of all concerned.

For him the subject of Transport was an obsession, in fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that most of his professional life was devoted to matters pertaining to Transport. It is a well-known fact that he possessed one of the world's best personal libraries on transport related subjects, painstakingly collected at great expense to him.

The library was a heaven to transport students, researchers, foreign and local scholars. The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Sri lanka (CILT, SL) is ever grateful to Mr. Diandas for donating this treasure house of knowledge to CILT, SL in his last will, to enable members and others to continue to use it and also enhance the collection for posterity. The library no doubt will be the memorial and epitaph of a man who pioneered the study of transport on a professional basis in this country. The present generation of academics, professionals and experts on transport should always be grateful to Mr. Diandas for his pioneering efforts.

The creation of the Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) in 1958 gave Mr. Diandas the opportunity to put his ideas on improving the bus industry into practice. As honorary adviser to the CTB, 1960-1977 and as a leading member of the Bus-Route-Rerouting Committee, 1963-1971, he played a key role in re-planning the bus-route-net-work of the country. One of his concepts which proved to be highly successful was the link-services which enabled the commuters to travel to their destinations without inter-changing buses, thereby saving both time and money.

These services also helped to reduce traffic congestion in city centres. He also personally undertook the task of locating the bus stops in urban areas, priority being given to passenger convenience. In this regard, he fought several memorable battles with the police, politicians, business houses, and local authorities in his attempt to retain bus stops at user-friendly locations, for bus passengers. He untiringly campaigned for the well-being of the bus and train users.

He consistently argued at transport forums and Ministerial Advisory meetings that priority to buses be given on busy street corridors and that private cars be discouraged in city centres. He was of the view that more roads and parking space within the city attracted more vehicles and created more traffic congestion (traffic fills space), and therefore advocated that, instead of investing colossal sums of money on more and more roads, priority should be given to low-cost traffic management measures. The one-way traffic scheme which was in operation in the Colombo Fort Area before the Central Bank bomb blast, was conceived of by Mr. Diandas as a measure in this direction. Indeed, after the current ceasefire and the removal of street barricades, he was once again planning a fresh one-way traffic scheme for the Fort Area of Colombo with the Police, but his untimely death put an end to it.

Mr. Diandas argued these issues passionately and with conviction at many forums, in spite of the limited support he received from decision-makers. The closure of a part of Galle Road for bus traffic on security grounds perturbed him so much, he personally made representations to the President and IGP on behalf of the commuters, and as a compromise he was successful in obtaining permission for a shuttle service with two buses with army escort between Kollupitiya and Fort. Another issue that agitated him was the loss of the Bambalapitiya Railway Station Bus Stand, which provided excellent roadrail coordination, to commercial developers and car parking. He was fighting for its restoration to his dying day.

Mr. Diandas held life membership of a large number of professional bodies here and abroad, in various disciplines, such as Accountancy, Transport, Economics, Engineering, Energy, International Development, Rail Transit etc. He obtained membership of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in 1983 and together with several other Transportants established the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Sri Lanka, and was Chairman, Sri Lanka Section and CILT Council Member from 1988-1989.

In recognition of his service to transport he was elected Honorary Fellow of the CILT in 1993-the highest honour that can be bestowed by the Institute on an individual. He was one of ten such members worldwide to receive this honour at that time.

The citation for the Honorary Fellowship commented: "he is well-known for his encyclopedic knowledge of transport, specially public transport the world over and for his determination to acquire knowledge by travelling, meeting people and attending meetings and conferences. To his extensive knowledge he adds an imagination and a vision for transport which few can rival. He is keenly interested in transport education and worked hard to promote a scheme at university level in Sri Lanka. Although there had been members in Sri Lanka for many years, John Diandas became one of the major motivators who brought about the formation of the Sri Lanka Section."

During his eventful life Mr. Diandas contributed immensely to the development of this country by functioning in an honorary capacity as Chairman and Member of Government appointed Committees on various critical areas such as bus operation and policy, company law, bus route re-planning, bus fare structures, canal rehabilitation, power and energy, climate change and national environment. He was also Director, Ceylon Tyre Corporation 1970-1974, Board member, Building Materials Corporation 1976-1977, Member, Urban Development Authority 1994-1997, (with a short stint as Acting Chairman), and Member, Western Province Transport Authority 1995-1998. He received the highest recognition of the Government with his appointment as Chairman, National Transport Commission, in which capacity he functioned from December 1994 to March 1997. He was a member of the Railway Management Council, 2000 upto his death.

He was a Council Member of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (most years 1977-1995), President of its Section F (Social Sciences) 1989, Chairman of its General Research Committee, 1994, Vice President, Sri Lanka Association of Economists, 1997-98 and Board Member, Sri Lanka Energy Managers' Association, 1989. CILT is proud that Mr. Diandas' services were availed of by leading Consultancy Firms in London, such as Mott MacDonald Group, Denis Wilson & Partners to investigate and report on Light Rail (LR) systems, create database for Light Rail Transit (LRT) proposals in British cities and extended study of LR in British cities. He was also engaged to carry out a pilot study of three cities to ascertain the reasons and suggest remedies for impediments and delays suffered by 40 British cities in implementing LRT systems.

Mr. Diandas is credited with numerous publications and seminar presentations both here and abroad, on Transport related subjects, which were well constructed, authoritative and thought provoking documents that are compulsory reading for students of Transport, academic and research workers. Mr. Diandas's participation at seminars was a memorable event, for all those who were present at such occasions. He always dominated the discussion time with incisive question and lively comments on the subjects discussed.

In spite of Mr. Diandas' academic and professional achievements and the international recognition he received, he remained a simple man and an unassuming person who lived a spartan life strictly adhering to a code of conduct, which guided his life until his death.

His dress was a simple white cotton banyan, a trouser and slippers. He wore then even to august assemblies here and abroad. He was a teetotaller and a vegetarian who desired his life to be based on a Gandhian Principles.

Mr. Diandas's demise is a great loss to Sri Lanka. His loss to CILT, Sri Lanka is immeasurable.

by The Chairman and Executive Committee, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager