Subsidy for three-wheeler drivers

Irangika Range

COLOMBO: The Government is planing to provide a subsidy to three-wheeler drivers for conversion of their three-wheelers from petrol to gas enabling them to save 40 per cent of cost which they spend on fuel.

A Transport Ministry spokesman told the Daily News that two proposals have already been presented to the Transport Ministry by two private companies for the conversion of three-wheelers from petrel to gas.

One company presented its estimated conversion cost as Rs. 30,000 per three-wheeler while another private company presented the total conversion cost as Rs. 20,000.

"We will go for the low cost proposal," he said. Discussions are currently underway with the Treasury to provide maximum relief to three-wheeler drivers for the conversion," he said.

It is still negotiating with the Treasury whether the Government fully sustains the total conversion cost of Rs. 20,000 or half of the amount of Rs. 10,000 introducing on interest free loan scheme to pay the balance for the three-wheeler drivers.

There are 310,000 three-wheelers in the country and it has become a common mode of transport. Around 4.2 percent of commuters use three-wheelers for their day today work while the percentage of railway commuters in the country is only 6 percent.

Three-wheeler drivers are facing hard times due to petrol price hike and this mechanism is being carried out to provid relief to them and passengers, he said.

He said the Government made this decision of conversion with the objective of saving 40 percent of cost which is spent for fuel by Three-Wheeler drivers aiming to reduce burden on three wheel owners and passngers.

Another reason is that the two-stroke three wheelers which run on our roads were identified as a major reason for environment pollution.

The Government is planning to prohibit the two-stroke three-wheelers due to its ill effects on the environment by 2011. "We will introduce four-stroke three-wheelers as an alternative solution to this problem," he said.

Transport Minister Dullas Allahapperuma is having discussions with Three-wheeler Associations and the National Transport Commission to formulate a code of ethics for three-wheeler drivers aming at providing maximum advantages to commuters through this conversion.