Public Transport crisis looms in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 00:09 GMT]
Shortage of tires for buses operated by Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) in the North has reached a critical situation and may soon cripple the services on many routes in the peninsula, a high official of SLTB Point Pedro bus depot said Saturday.

Point Pedro has been the most hit by the tire shortage resulting in a number of buses being garaged at the bus depot for the past several weeks seriously affecting daily service along many routes served by this depot, the official added.

A similar situation prevails in Koa'ndaavil where the entire stock of tires have been exhausted, and service on many routes may have to be curtailed or temporarily suspended, officials in Kondaavil said.

After the closure of A-9 land route since August 11, 2006, the bus services in the peninsula were considerably affected. When the local media high lighted the shortage and a number of consumer groups staged protests, the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) responded by sending a consignment of tires. However, no further shipment was sent to the North precipitating the current crisis, sources said.

Meanwhile, officials from Jaffna SLTB said that they have already notified the Head office in Colombo about the shortage.

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