By Sandun A Jayasekera  

Bureaucratic bungling that persisted at the highest level in the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) management compelled him to fire the SLTB chairman from his post with immediate effect, cabinet spokesman, Mass Media, Transport and Highways Minister Bandula Gunawardena said yesterday.  

'In response to a journalist at the weekly post cabinet news briefing, Minister Gunawardana said the chairman of the SLTB closed down the ‘Park and Ride’ service at Kottawa and ignored his instructions to restart it after the covid 19 pandemic.  

“The SLTB, though a state owned commercial venture, the government does not run it as a profit making enterprise but as a vital utility service. The ‘Park and Ride’ project started before the pandemic as a facility for public and private sector officials to travel to Colombo after parking their vehicles at Kottawa and come to Colombo in the comfort of a SLTB bus. This service was aimed at saving fuel and time and also to contribute to ease traffic congestion. The Park and Ride became a popular service but had to be suspended due to the pandemic. But after the receding of covid 19, I instructed the Chairman to restart the service but he refused by saying that the service was unprofitable which is against the SLTB policies,’ Minister Gunawardana said.  What about if the SLTB suspended to run buses on all loss making routes in rural areas? He asked.