The Hon. (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasena - Acting Minister of Transport and Highways
Acting Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena stated that 73 restaurants serve SLTB long-distance routes, while identified private-sector rest stops include 14 on the Puttalam/Colombo–Jaffna corridor and 19 on high-level/low-level corridors, with further identification ongoing. He said restaurants must operate under Medical Officer of Health/Public Health Inspector supervision, be registered with local authorities, and comply with conditions under Gazette No. 1742/26 and related SLTB, Health Ministry, and National Transport Commission specifications. He noted that the 73 SLTB-linked restaurants are not yet registered with SLTB, no SLTB registration fee has so far been charged, and proposed SLTB conditions include a Rs. 25,000 non-refundable security deposit and a Rs. 3,000 monthly fee.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answer to that question is as follows.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Restaurants for Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) long-distance services: 73. Private sector long-distance services: Puttalam Corridor (Colombo–Jaffna) 14; High-level/Low-level Corridors (Colombo–Badulla, Pelmadulla–Ampara, Avissawella–Hatton) 19. Identification of restaurants on other corridors is in progress.
¶ 03 (ii) As per Special Gazette No. 1742/26 dated 26 January 2012, restaurants must operate under the approval and supervision of the Medical Officer of Health/Public Health Inspectors. SLTB has also prepared a set of conditions for restaurant registration. At present, written permissions are issued to operate restaurants on request by owners. In addition, restaurants must be registered with the relevant local authority.
¶ 04 (iii) For SLTB long-distance services, 73 restaurants currently providing services are not yet registered under SLTB. Information on restaurants relevant to private long-distance services will be collected through the National Transport Commission (NTC) in due course.
¶ 05 (iv) Yes.
¶ 06 (v) Special Gazette No. 1742/26 of 26 January 2012 (Food Act No. 26 of 1980) and the SLTB conditions for registration of rest-stop restaurants are provided up to Annex 028. The Ministry of Health’s “Food Handling Establishment Classification – II 800 (Revised) 2011” format is provided up to Annex 038. For facilities not covered by the II 800 format but necessary for passengers, bus crews, and buses, specifications prepared by the National Transport Commission are provided up to Annex 048. Annexes 01, 02, 03 and 04 are placed in the Library.
¶ 07 (vi) No fee has been charged so far for SLTB registration; however, the local authority charges a fee for the trade licence of the restaurant.
¶ 08 (vii) Under SLTB’s conditions for restaurant registration, a non-refundable security deposit of Rs. 25,000 and a monthly fee of Rs. 3,000 are specified. The local authority trade licence fee is also charged as applicable.
¶ 09 (b) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 24 October 2025 ·No. 22644 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasena - Acting Minister of Transport and Highways. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 24 October 2025. No. 22644. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/28745