No privatisation of SLTB - Deputy Minister

Irangika Range

The government has no intention to privatise the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), Transport Deputy Minister Rohana Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday.

Addressing a media briefing in Colombo yesterday, the Deputy Minister said although various political parties alleged that the SLTB will be privatised, there is no truth in those allegations. "We however, intend to restructure the SLTB to increase its efficiency and productivity to provide better transport facilities for the public," he said.

"On the instructions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, we reclaimed many state properties privatised under the UNP regime,' he added.

"We will provide an efficient passenger service, not with the sole intention of making profits," he said.

"The SLTB incurs an additional cost of Rs.1.75 per kilometre after the recent fuel price increase. The SLTB earns around Rs.55 million by operating 5,200 buses island wide daily. More buses will be added to the SLTB fleet in due course," he said.