Clean Sri Lanka: Travails of commuters

The priority of the private operators is to take many passengers as far as possible to enhance their earnings and in the process many precious lives have been lost due to the reckless drivers

Most of the private bus crew do not issue tickets. The non-issuance of tickets will have serious consequences in case of an accident resulting in any insurance claims. In addition they are not properly attired. The word courtesy is a non-existent commodity. The same is with three-wheel drivers who do not even display their identity. The passengers of three-wheelers have a right and should know the identity of their driver. In most of our neighbouring countries the aforesaid categories are required by law to be properly attired and ensure courtesy to their commuters and passengers

The NPP Government’s vision in introducing the concept of “Clean Sri Lanka” is commendable. One of the main objective of the Clean Sri Lanka program appears to be to streamline our transport system towards ensuring road safety in providing an efficient and more importantly a dependable service to millions of commuters. It is no exaggeration to state the relevant authorities in the transport arena have failed in achieving this objective. In the past we had various ministers entrusted with the responsibility of steering this important sector and at times we even had an exclusive ministry for the private transport service.

I am prompted to write this article as a concerned citizen, in view of the recent unsatisfactory developments in our transport sector, most importantly the frequent accidents and loss of precious lives, in the interest of the commuters of the country.

Existing state of the private bus service and the necessity of reforms

I feel it is opportune to touch on some of the negative aspects prevailing in our private bus service. The private bus service requires greater reforms. I wish to highlight some of the pressing needs covering our private transport system in the light of some of the recent articles appeared in the press. Our public and private transport system run parallel covering most of the routes and it has been revealed the private bus operators possess a large part of the route permits. 

The priority of the private operators is to take many passengers as far as possible to enhance their earnings and in the process many precious lives have been lost due to the reckless drivers of buses who have no patience in adhering to road discipline. The very recent accident in Kurunegala which caused the death of four precious lives and injury to many is reported to be the result of excessive speed according to eye witnesses.

Sometime ago, the media gave publicity to an interview given by a Russian tourist who shared her own experience and the nightmare she encountered during her recent travel by bus to Polonnaruwa. She states “travelling by bus in Sri Lanka is not safe” and goes on further “it is very dangerous to our lives. We don’t want to die, we are just tourists and we want to see Sri Lanka. I was very scared and cried in the bus. I even talked to my Mum and told that the buses in Sri Lanka drive risking the lives of the people”. These are her words as reported in the media. She requested those in authority to take serious note of her concerns especially imposing speed limits to be adhered to strictly. This should be an eye opener for the relevant authorities in the transport sector.

Important reforms for the private transport sector

Most of the private bus crew do not issue tickets. The non-issuance of tickets will have serious consequences in case of an accident resulting in any insurance claims. In addition they are not properly attired. The word courtesy is a non-existent commodity. The same is with three-wheel drivers who do not even display their identity. The passengers of three-wheelers have a right and should know the identity of their driver. In most of our neighbouring countries the aforesaid categories are required by law to be properly attired and ensure courtesy to their commuters and passengers. 

To ascertain the quality of the private bus operators one has to travel in a private bus. The relevant regulators entrusted with such responsibility should travel as a “mystery commuter” to ascertain the state of affairs. The initiative of the new Minister of Transport to travel in the public transport to see for himself of the state of affairs is commendable.

At a time when we are on a campaign to boost our tourism, and march towards “Clean Sri Lanka” the authorities should take steps, regulate as a matter of priority towards the introduction of uniforms, issuance of tickets and most importantly stress the importance of courtesy in safeguarding the reputation of our beautiful country since many tourists and locals are dependent on public transport. The commuters are at the mercy of these crew who operate the bus service according to their own will. 

The aforesaid areas could be easily implemented if the regulators give their serious consideration and issue the necessary stipulations, the adherence of which by the relevant stakeholders should be made mandatory. This will result in tremendous improvement covering the private bus service. If we have an efficient transport system, many will utilise these services to commute to their work places which could result in massive saving to all stakeholders. 

The action taken by the Government to import 1,000 new buses to our existing transport fleet is commendable. The Government should consider the re-introduction of double-deckers after ascertaining its feasibility. Many of us remember decades ago, we had double-deckers operating in Colombo and some of the suburbs. It was a pleasure to see these buses operating in the City of Colombo. Considerable revenue could be derived from advertising as these buses were painted with colourful advertisements which boosted the income of the Transport Board.

Frequent and unannounced railway strikes

The frequent strike action of some of the railway unions in the recent past, should be a major cause of concern for all commuters, solely dependents on this mode of transport to travel to their workplaces. A majority of these commuters, purchase season tickets at the beginning of a month with the hope of traveling to their destinations without any impediment and it is the responsibility of the railway authorities to provide an uninterrupted service. It was revealed more than a million commuters are dependent on rail transport to reach their places of destination on a daily basis.

These unannounced and sudden strike action of various unions of the Railway Department, have put the commuters of the country to great inconvenience. The railway employees notably the unionists, have a habit of going on strike at the ‘drop of a hat’ for trivial matters which could be easily resolved by having discussions with their management. We have been used to receive frequent messages which intimates “Railway employees are on strike”. What happens next, 24 hours, after putting the commuters to unwanted agony and misery, we receive a further message which state “after having talks with the subject minister the strike has been called off”. This was a regular feature. 

The question on everyone’s mind is why cannot these unionists engage in talks with the concerned authorities prior to advising their membership to opt on a strike action. The unionists have a responsibility not only to ensure the general public are not inconvenienced due to their action, they also have to ensure their action does not deprive the income of their entities which are already burdened with heavy losses which ultimately have to be met by the tax payers of the country. This is apart from the loss to the country’s economy due to loss of productivity.

Many precious lives were lost due to their strike action. Take for instance the very recent strike action of the railway employees. It was reported the strike action warranted due to a clash between a security guard and a railway guard over a petty issue which resulted in some form of confrontation. The moment it was brought to the attention of the union leaders they had called for a strike action. No prior intimation whatsoever appears to have been given to their management. It is one of the terms and conditions of any union to give prior intimation to their employers of any impending trade union action. It is the basic principle of any trade union. 

If such discussions do not result in positive outcome they have every right to call for a strike and that too should be called after giving adequate intimation to their management. What was the situation which caused their strike action? Did they give any prior intimation? It appears the railway authorities and more importantly the commuters who anxiously waited for the evening to reach their destinations, after a hard day’s work were shocked and taken by surprise and put into great inconvenience.

Many of the daily commuters depend on season tickets and hardly carry any cash. What is the plight of these innocents due to unscheduled and sudden strike action? Many found it difficult to reach their destinations due to unavailability of hard cash to avail alternate mode of transport. It was reported in the media of a poor father’s inability to give a paltry sum to his son to take the bus to his university as an alternate mode of transport which caused the loss of this precious life. Many climbed on the roof of the railway compartments to reach their destinations due to the restricted service. This broke the hearts of many and there were several such tragedies causing the loss of innocent and precious lives.

It is no exaggeration to state today the Sri Lankan Railway, has become the most undependable mode of transport due to the frequent strike actions of its employees. Needless to say many tourists, locals and holiday makers make their prior reservations “online” well in advance to enjoy their hard earned holiday and their entire holiday schedule will be greatly affected due to these unwarranted strike action. Even though I am not a regular railway commuter dependent on rail travel, even i had a taste and encountered such difficulties on a few occasions due to the sudden strike action of railway employees. After making the prior reservations well in advance, the day before my intended date of travel I got an SMS message late in the night which intimated the railway employees are on strike and all trains to several important destinations were cancelled. I had to abandon my travel plan as I couldn’t make alternate arrangements at short notice.

Modernisation of the Fort Railway Station

Many of us the commuters remember the country’s premier railway station at Fort which is the main gateway to several destinations of the country. Today this is in a pathetic state. No development whatsoever has taken place to modernise this important location which is century old and remains at the same level which prevailed many decades ago. Financial allocations should be made to modernise this station as apart from the local commuters many tourists patronise this station on arrival in Colombo which is the entry point to many important destinations of the country. This should be a major priority which should be initiated by the relevant authorities since this is located in the capital city.

I trust the relevant authorities take serious note of the concerns touched by me in this article towards ensuring Sri Lanka is in possession of an excellent and dependable transport system which should be a benchmark for all. Unfortunately at its present state it is far beyond many of our neighbouring countries which should be a cause of concern to all.