Local tyres to meet SLCTB demand

Rajmi Manatunga

COLOMBO: The Transport Ministry will reopen the tyre factories at Ampara and Ekala to meet the tyre requirement of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) locally.

Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said the Government will be able to save a large amount of foreign exchange spent on purchasing 18,000 tyres annually, once the factories are reopened. “Our objective is to resume work in the factories at least by next year.

We have also taken steps to take the German Technical College which grooms technicians of the SLTB, under the Government and reopen the workshops at Kahagolla, Matale and Ekala,” he said.

The Minister made this statement at a ceremony to handover 14 new buses to the Kirindiwela SLTB depot. The buses will be operated on the Wedagama-Colombo, Kirindiwela-Colombo, Veyangoda-Hanwella, Kirindiwela-Gampaha, Kandy-Colombo and Trincomalee-Colombo routes.

He stated that a large financial allocation has been made for the development of the transport sector next year on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.