Private buses lose Rs. 500 million due to protests in WP since January

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama  

Since January this year, there has been a loss of around Rs. 500 million in income for the private buses due to protests held in the Western Province (WP), Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) Chairman Gemunu Wijerathne said.  

He told the Daily Mirror that there is a loss of Rs. 10 million daily.  

Due to protests, we had to reduce the daily bus trips to two, and a large volume of fuel was wasted on the road waiting in traffic, he said.  

“Including the fuel wastage, the total loss is closer to Rs. 10 million per day in the WP. The fuel loss is nearly Rs. 600,000 when considering the trips,” Wijerathne said.  
When compared to other provinces, WP suffered a heavy loss, he said.  

“Government workers conduct protests while receiving salaries at the end of each month, but we have to earn for our living. There is no issue with the buses operating under the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), as they also get their salaries regularly,” he said.  

Therefore, we have informed the police about this earlier to ease the traffic during protests or let the protesters continue protests without causing hindrance to the traffic flow, Wijerathne said.    

• Government workers conduct protests while receiving salaries at the end of each month