The Hon. (Mrs.) Deepthi Wasalage

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, transport is a parameter of development. For our people—alongside food, health, and education—public transport is vital. During five-year village development planning, we saw citizens prioritize requests for roads, carpeting, and bus services.

¶ 02 As we debate amending the 1991 No. 37 National Transport Commission Act, I speak as a woman representing all women of Sri Lanka and as a mother. I am pleased that a woman presides today.

¶ 03 Women constitute much of the workforce and public service. Many women leave for work before sunrise and return late at night, bearing a heavy family burden. Due to poor personal finances, most women depend on public transport. Even now, anywhere in Sri Lanka, a woman, a girl, or a child can be subjected to harassment on public transport—an unfortunate reality. Often women suffer in silence; they do not open up. In 2024, of 2,785 reported incidents of violence against women, 289 occurred on public transport. We must provide a political response and create conditions for women to use public transport with dignity and safety. By regulating public transport through this amendment, we can create that environment.

¶ 04 For decades, overcrowding beyond seating capacity has been a prime cause of harassment on buses. We must politically intervene to increase the number of buses and trains. Harassment of schoolchildren—especially girls—disrupts education; some women even quit jobs or refuse marriage due to experiences in public transport. We must regulate and improve public transport to address this.

¶ 05 We are already deploying GPS to identify routes and CCTV for safety. We are mandating display of WhatsApp complaint numbers in all public transport vehicles for reporting harassment. Random checks for alcohol and drug use by bus drivers will be conducted with strict penalties. Cabinet approval has been granted to add 100 modern “Metro” buses to the fleet. We are also considering women-only bus services.

¶ 06 A major challenge for women is sanitation access. Most bus stands lack clean sanitary facilities for women. We are working to establish proper facilities at bus terminals.

¶ 07 As for my own city, Matale: despite having many past MPs and Ministers, Matale still lacks a safe, clean, modern bus stand. The depot’s condition is deplorable, with politicized management and transfers. We will intervene to make public transport efficient.

¶ 08 Regarding long-distance services, the Motor Traffic (Amendment) provides for a 30-minute break after 4.5 hours’ driving. But current rest areas lack quality and are either too expensive or unhygienic. We will improve rest stops with Transport and Health Ministry officials, selecting the Colombo–Puttalam corridor first.

¶ 09 Today is World Environment Day. Before entering Parliament, I taught chemistry; my final lesson to students was environmental chemistry: vehicle emissions significantly affect air pollution, global warming, photochemical smog, and acid rain. Inefficient public transport worsens these. Efficient public transport reduces private vehicle use. We must also regulate time—bus competition and fare-driven passenger collection turn one-hour trips into two. We will act to deliver a better public transport service.

¶ 10 It was claimed today that the Clean Sri Lanka program ended. Not so. Under it, we are upgrading 100 fuel stations nationwide to clean, user-friendly standards, and will continue to make Sri Lanka cleaner and better, with education sector support and social attitude changes from 2026 reforms. By amending the National Transport Commission Act, we will make public transport an inclusive, quality service for all.

¶ 11 Thank you.