The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake – Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation and Leader of the House of Parliament

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, I move, “That the Bill be now read a Second time.”

¶ 02 First, my thanks to you for the opportunity to bring a Bill to amend the National Transport Commission Act, No. 37 of 1991. From the perspective of the Ministry of Transport under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Government, this is our first major Bill.

¶ 03 By way of context: before 1958, Sri Lanka had private bus companies. In 1958 the Ceylon Transport Board (CTB/SLTB) was established and private bus fleets were taken over. Around 1977 private bus services were permitted again. Circa 1983, a department was set up to regulate private buses, and, as the next step, because both state and private buses needed regulation, the National Transport Commission Act No. 37 of 1991 was enacted alongside the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

¶ 04 Private buses are a large industry with significant economic impact and employment. However, despite three decades since 1991, the law has not had a comprehensive update. We aim to address key gaps.

¶ 05 Today, people’s mobility is not just by buses. School transport operates largely via vans with little structured regulation. A large share of the public uses three-wheelers, but regulation is minimal and largely by policing. There are also extensive office transport services using vans and buses, again with no proper regulatory framework. Roads are public assets built with taxpayers’ money; all road users—state buses, private buses, three-wheelers, school vans, office transport—must operate to common rules for safe, efficient use.

¶ 06 Some sectors in Sri Lanka have rapidly professionalized—for instance tourism and national tour guiding—within a few decades. By contrast, the bus/transport industry has not professionalized commensurately. SLTB was run down by previous governments and reviving it is a tough challenge we are undertaking.

¶ 07 Private buses provide essential services, especially to rural communities, but public perception and user experience are often negative. The sector lacks strategic development and professional management. There have also been politically connected rent-seekers among some bus owners, while many others genuinely struggle to run services. We must uplift both professionalism and business standards, bringing all road-based passenger transport under coherent policy and rules.

¶ 08 The NTC’s mandate by name is broad—national transport policy. In practice, it gravitated mostly to issuing inter-provincial private bus route permits, which became a highly corrupt, rent-seeking process comparable to obtaining a bar permit. We intend to broaden the Commission’s scope, and shift route-permit allocation to transparent tender-based processes. We will also bring currently under-regulated modes—three-wheelers, school vans, office transport, and all road-using public passenger services—under policy and enforceable rules.

¶ 09 A major reform is to vest in the NTC the authority to regulate all vehicles using public roads for passenger services, setting standards, criteria and penalties to improve safety. It is one month since the Gerandigala bus tragedy which shocked the nation. Many state and private long-distance buses are operating below required standards. We have commenced action: for example, a recent audit in Nuwara Eliya District found around 20 of 60 long-distance buses unfit; those have been withdrawn. We have ordered district-wide inspections of long-distance buses nationwide and will set standards and rules accordingly. Causes of the Gerandigala crash include rest-stop practices and the conditions of eateries used. With this Bill, we will be empowered to set standards for long-distance bus rest facilities (including sanitation), and require compliance.

¶ 10 Another persistent issue is the non-transferability of route permits with fleet ownership changes. Currently, the bus can be sold but the route permit remains with the initial holder, creating severe complications. Post-enactment, when ownership is transferred, the route permit can be transferred to the buyer under defined criteria. The State Minister, Dr. Prasanna Gunasekara, will also explain our methodology on fare-setting. This Bill is a foundational step of a broader reform agenda.

¶ 11 On road safety more generally, we have a 85-point action programme commencing 1 July. Fatigue among long-distance drivers is a key risk. Rather than merely surveilling drivers with CCTV, we will deploy technology. Within about two months, we will pilot AI-based driver alertness and monitoring systems on 40 buses—both private and SLTB—and scale up based on results.

¶ 12 Safe travel also requires good roads. We have launched a rural roads rehabilitation programme and works on A/AB roads and expressways. New A/AB roads will carry a minimum 12-year performance guarantee.

¶ 13 Regarding the Central Expressway, due to past corruption and delays, Rs. 55 billion in penalties are due and will escalate with further delay. We plan to commence, within about two months, the Kadawatha connecting section via tender now called. We also expect to start, in August, the Athurugiriya connector, and to commence the main section within weeks under Chinese financing and domestic funds upon conclusion of discussions.

¶ 14 On Nandikadal–Chattuvachchal bridges, design is complete and we expect to commence construction by August.

¶ 15 Finally, on SriLankan Airlines: yesterday a leased aircraft arrived. Public enthusiasm showed the affection for the national carrier. We have leased it from France at USD 275,000 per month—a reasonable figure compared to the USD 800,000 per month we are still paying for aircraft we did not even bring here, arising from corrupt Airbus dealings under the Rajapaksas and cancellation-side corruption under the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration. Despite that burden, we are rebuilding. We welcome constructive Opposition input. Thank you.

¶ 16 Question proposed.