The Hon. Thilina Samarakoon

¶ 01 Question to the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development:

¶ 02 (a) Will he inform this House— (i) the insurance coverage obtained for passenger transport buses of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB); (ii) whether third-party insurance coverage is sufficient for passenger transport buses; and (iii) whether another insurance coverage will be obtained in future in place of the said insurance coverage?

¶ 03 (b) Will he also inform this House— (i) whether the number of technical officers currently serving in SLTB depots is sufficient; (ii) whether there are trained technicians in the technical sections of the said depots; (iii) whether a proper procedure will be implemented to recruit technicians for said depots after proper training; and (iv) whether there is a procedure to recruit trainees who are attached to SLTB depots for practical training by institutions providing technical education on a permanent basis after the training period? (c) If not, why?

¶ 04 Further supplementary: Information has been received that procurement of tyres and tubes has long been carried out through a private company operating from the North Central Province, and staff allege substandard products; they supply foreign-made products. Can a domestic manufacturer with proper standards be given an opportunity to supply tyres and tubes for SLTB buses?

¶ 05 Another supplementary: During audits we observed irregular spare parts purchasing and reliance on outdated bin-card inventory control. Is there a mechanism for SLTB to centralize the import, purchase, and supply of spare parts? Also, when purchasing engine sets, can they be matched to existing bus bodies to expand the operable bus fleet?