The Hon. Amirthanathan Adaikkalanathan

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson. I am pleased to speak on the National Transport Commission (Amendment) Bill.

¶ 02 In transport services, particularly in the North and East, there are many issues. Private services often conflict with SLTB services—racing to pick up passengers and at times refusing schoolchildren—though sometimes they are generous. The government should bring in new buses and initiate services on rural roads so students can get to school without hardship. In our Vanni area, students walk long distances; teachers cannot reach on time. If the Minister addresses this by importing buses and fixing services, educational standards will improve.

¶ 03 Farmers, too, because of poor transport, sell vegetables at unfairly low prices to middlemen, who then sell at high prices elsewhere. If the government promptly implements local road rehabilitation and improves transport, farmers, teachers, and students will benefit, and farmers can directly bring produce to urban markets.

¶ 04 I welcome the effort to streamline national transport through this amendment, something previously absent. However, we must also resolve issues between private and SLTB time-tables which often clash and cause racing, sometimes at the expense of schoolchildren. Proper implementation and rural road rehabilitation are needed.

¶ 05 I also thank the people for voting overwhelmingly for the Tamil National Alliance in local government elections. Further, regarding the LTTE bank jewellery and valuables that disappeared during the war: due to your government’s efforts, jewellery held under Naval custody has been handed to the Police—this is commendable. I request that, based on legal procedures and evidence, jewellery be returned to rightful owners where they can prove their claims; the remainder may be used for regional development, but priority should be to return to identified owners. Some have given me copies of their deposit proofs; I can submit them for the Hansard.