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| Saturday, 22 May 2004 |
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On the buses By Ranil Wijayapala Walking along Olcotte Mawatha Opposite the Central Bus Station in Pettah, one is horrified of the total lack of safety and security leave alone the drudgery of waiting hours on end for a bus to take weary commuters home after a hard day's work. While the Central Bus Stand has the basic amenities available to commuters the one opposite a virtual hell hole particularly after dusk. Here, tired office workers exposed to the vageries of the weather are forced to mingle with pick pockets, touts, pimps, prostitutes, gays and conmen as they stand and wait sometime as long as two hours for a bus. Tired workers returning to their homes at Horana, Moratuwa, Panadura, Kesbewa, Piliyandala, Ingiriya and Bandaragama become nerves as Pettah's underworld comes alive. It is high time that the authorities both the Municipality and the Transport Ministry takes cognisence of this problem and takes necessary measures to provide the basics for safety and security of these commuters. This is just a small example of an enormous problem faced by the new Minister of Transport Felix Perera. The bus services are in an utter mess and immediate measures must be taken to ease the heavy burden of commuters who for the past two years have had to undergo untold hardship. Buses are dirty, often derelict, filthy and in a state of disrepair with parts even dropping off, at times. Travelling by bus is a risky business these days. In addition to all these woes, buses are driven at break-neck speed, particularly private buses, both short and long distance. The small and medium private bus drivers are best described as hell's angels, racing each other recklessly with commuters clinging onto their seats or standing perilously on the narrow aisles. These buses race each other in no holds barred competition to pick up passengers at bus halts. Times without number the drivers lose control of their buses and kill or maim themselves and their passengers. Many of these drivers are found not to be in possession of driving licences. Bus conductors as a rule do not issue tickets and according to my information the bigger culprits are the bus owners who do not issue ticket books in order to avoid income tax. Even on the few occasions tickets are issued, this is after the transport authorities makes loud noises. The counterfoils are thrown away, with the tax men none the wiser. The Transport Minister, I am told, is a man of unimpeachable character, a man of high integrity with a reputation for getting a job done fast, brooking no nonsense. That's the kind of person we need to clear the sordid mess and put our bus services back on track. |
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