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Friday, 17 August 2018 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Divya Thotawatte
Lanka Private Passenger Transport Workers’ Union General Secretary Kumaradasa Kuliyapitiya yesterday claimed the trade union action taken was a success despite claims by the Minister on the contrary.
The trade union resorted to a strike, protesting a hike in fines charged for traffic offences, demanding that the road network in the country be improved before increasing the amounts.
Kuliyapitiya, claiming the strike was a success, said that close to 80% of the buses in the country were not in operation yesterday – a fact disputed by Transport Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.
Speaking to the media, the Minister said most of the buses were working and steps have been taken to ensure Sri Lanka Transport Board buses would be deployed in areas where the strike is ongoing.
“Overall, the strike has been a failure. We will deploy the Army if there is a shortage to ensure the people are not inconvenienced,” he said.
Admitting that some workers were not taking part in the trade union action, Kuliyapitiya claimed that the drivers and conductors were working under duress.
“Their bus owners have threated to fire them. That is why they were working,” he claimed.
The Union was protesting against the recent hike in fines imposed on traffic-related offences, calling them unfair.
“These fines are unfair. They don’t give reasons for the increases and the fines are baseless. We need a law and system for the road like that of Singapore. When we have a proper system like that, the spot fines would be acceptable. But, there isn’t a system like that in Sri Lanka,” he said.
He also added that they were planning to continue the strike until they obtain a proper solution to the fines. “We hope to discuss the matter with the President. We are planning on carrying on the fare strike and we will discuss the issues with some other organisations. We have trade unions in the free trade areas and we will discuss with every organisation which helps drivers who hold a driver’s licence,” he elaborated.
The Minister, however, was steadfast on the new regulations. The changes were made after a lapse of over eight years, and were adopted unanimously in Parliament, he said.
“There is no going back. The Ministry had given the stakeholders sufficient time to raise objections but several bus associations agreed with the new traffic rules,” the Minister said.
