Route permits following tender system

Irangika Range

Seventy eight private buses plying between Colombo and Jaffna without permission were granted route permits by the Transport Ministry following a proper tender system yesterday.

Transport Minister Kumara Welgama said that the bus permits to the North have not been issued for a long time due to the war. “Our major objective is to regulate the issue of route permits to buses operating between Colombo and Jaffna which will be resulted in providing the best transport service to Northerners,” the Minister said.

Private buses in addition to the SLTB buses started operating on the A9 route after the end of the war and it took some time to regularize the system.

The Government incurred losses due to the lack of a proper mechanism to issue route permits.

Despite the challenges and hardships, private bus operators rendered a great service to civilians in the aftermath of the war. That is why the Government prepared a Cabinet paper to regularize the issuing of bus permits with immediate effect under the directives of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

”Route permits were awarded under the tender process to do the justice to all bus owners.

Therefore it is duty of these 78 bus owners and operators to provide a punctual and quality service to Northerns by respecting the road rules and laws.