The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake
Urban commuters face inadequate public transport and high taxi costs due to weaknesses in SLTB operations and depot management. District-level officials and Police OICs have been asked to intervene to improve depot performance, with some successful coordination between private and SLTB services, such as on the Kalutara–Colombo route. In response to concerns about Route 155, it was stated that 20 trips had operated the previous day and that specific lapses should be reported for inquiry.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I was tempted to sing “She too knows not where she goes — and he too,” about the SJB. To the point: urban commuters lack good public transport, leading to high taxi costs. The SLTB is debilitated; depots are poorly managed. We have asked District Coordinating Committee Chairmen, Divisional Secretaries and Police OICs to intervene at depots to improve operations. There are positive outcomes: for example, Hon. Dhanushka Ranganath helped integrate private and SLTB services on Kalutara–Colombo. Some efforts succeed initially but falter due to management gaps. Regarding Route 155, I am informed that 20 trips operated yesterday. Please raise any specific lapses; we will look into them.
¶ 02 KANDY CITY: AIR QUALITY
¶ 03 Question No. 4 — 834/2025 — The Hon. (Mrs.) Chamindranee Kiriella, Attorney-at-Law
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 26 September 2025 ·No. 1760588641001872 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 26 September 2025. No. 1760588641001872. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/17729