The Hon. (Ms.) Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, thank you for the opportunity. Before addressing the National Transport Commission (Amendment) Bill, I must clarify a matter. SJB MP Mujibur Rahuman has repeatedly made media and parliamentary statements about the Colombo Municipal Council. Very recently, he claimed that the National People’s Power (NPP) councillors would support the SJB mayoral candidate, Riza Zarook, to become Mayor of the CMC. This is a serious and incorrect statement, which we categorically reject. No NPP councillor will support the SJB’s candidate. They may have spoken with our councillors, but NPP’s policy is to do no deals with corrupt politicians or parties. Complaints against Riza Zarook have been lodged with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and were publicized recently. Therefore, the assertion that NPP councillors will support him is false. Our councillors are committed to a broader social duty to transform the CMC, not to prop up defeated candidates. On 16 June, when the vote is held, the truth will be evident, and we hope Hon. Mujibur Rahuman corrects his statement.

¶ 02 Turning to the Bill: as Hon. Bimal Rathnayake explained this morning, bus transport was once solely under the SLTB (then CTB) as a monopoly. Post-1977 economic liberalization led to privatization of bus passenger transport, and the National Transport Commission (NTC) was established for regulation. However, the original Act lacked sufficient regulatory powers—the Commission needed “teeth.” For years the NTC functioned mainly at licensing level, without national standards or safety regulations, failing to properly address road safety.

¶ 03 This Amendment grants the Commission expanded powers—on national policy, directives, regulations, technology (including apps), fare regulation across buses and other public transport vehicles, and more rigorous criteria for permits. Importantly, it enlarges the NTC’s scope beyond route buses to school services, office services, three-wheelers, and any other vehicle used for public transport. Several clauses (4, 5, 10, 12, 38) strengthen regulatory and supervisory powers, with explicit emphasis on passenger safety and road safety as determinative criteria for permits.

¶ 04 People ask what this government has done in eight months. Many of these drafts had languished for years; they should have been brought earlier. For three decades, meaningful reforms were not enacted. The failure to provide a legal-regulatory environment for private participation led to today’s crises. The state’s primary duty is to create a sound regulatory framework and organize the industry—not to sermonize after the fact. We are now intervening accordingly through the Ministry of Transport, prioritizing road safety and regulation. The social and economic costs of accidents and injuries are the price paid for past policy failures; this Amendment is a major step to correct that.

¶ 05 Regarding accountability and the Airbus deal: successive governments’ wrongdoing and failure to do what should be done impose costs on the people. The 2013 Airbus procurement under the Mahinda Rajapaksa government and CEO Kapila Chandrasekera involved serious corruption in purchasing 10 aircraft—US$16 million in bribes, as determined not merely at investigation stage but by a UK court verdict in 2020. In the Sri Lankan Airbus transaction, US$2 million was paid as a bribe to the then CEO (2011–2015) via his spouse. With assets of Rs. 89 billion, expenditures of Rs. 149 billion were incurred, burdening the National Carrier. These are examples of how non-enforcement and corrupt decisions cost the public even today.

¶ 06 Thank you.