The Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 I am pleased to participate in today’s debate on two key Ministries. I have already submitted in writing to the Minister of Transport a request to install necessary traffic signals in our District. Vavuniya town lies at the junction of three A-grade roads—A9, A29, and A30—and the District has about 200,000 people. As the gateway to the Northern Province, many vehicles transit, causing frequent accidents. Through this Budget, please install signals at the five locations I indicated, and in front of the very important Vavuniya Tamil Maha Vidyalaya on the A9, where over 3,000 students study, to ensure safety.

¶ 03 Next, in Vavuniya District, two important bridges are needed on the Nelukkulam–Neriyakulam and Poovarasankulam–Cheddikulam roads. During the monsoon, people cannot pass. Similarly, on the Puthukulam road near Peyadikoolankulam, the village is split in two by floods. Please construct a flyover there to ensure easy movement.

¶ 04 In Vavuniya, although the SLTB has 51 buses on record, only 34 are in service. There is a staff shortage in the engineering division—please fill at least five vacancies immediately. There are seven driver vacancies and eleven conductor vacancies.

¶ 05 Our District consists largely of villages and farming communities. People, including schoolchildren, rely on SLTB rural services to bring produce to town and students to school. Please address SLTB shortcomings in our District so people can use the service effectively.

¶ 06 Among Sri Lanka’s nine Provinces, except the Northern Province, others have integrated timetables between private operators and SLTB. In our Province, there is no integrated timetable, causing many transport issues. Hon. Minister, please prioritise this and provide a solution.

¶ 07 Regarding school transport, along the A9 between Vavuniya and Mankulam there is no short-haul minibus service. Students must rely on inter-district buses, and those buses are not taking students—this is a serious problem. These buses must take schoolchildren.