The Private Bus Owners Association (PBOA) stated that it is ready to reduce bus fares if the government presents a transparent mechanism for providing fuel subsidies without the involvement of the National Transport Commission (NTC).
Speaking at a press conference held today (February 15) President of the PBOA, Gemunu Wijeyratne first apologized to the public for the inconvenience caused by the private bus strike but claimed that it was necessary action.
Furthermore he said that although the bus fare price revision was due in July, a temporary fare hike had to be granted in order to prevent the strike from continuing.
However, he regretfully stated that the NTC granted a 20% bus fare hike in an ad hoc manner without any calculations of formulas.
Wijeyratne added that it was still possible to reduce the bus fares if the government presented a transparent formula by which to provide bus operators with fuel subsidies while not involving the NTC in the drawing up of this mechanism.
