If bus crew members are not vaccinated LPBOA threatens to suspend all private bus services

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama  

If the Government does not take suitable steps to vaccinate all private bus employees and owners by the end of this week, all private bus operations will grind to a halt, Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) warned.  
LPBOA Chairman Gemunu Wijerathne told the Daily Mirror that several requests had been made to the Government in connection with the above. 

 
“We requested the Government to vaccinate the private bus operators two months ago as they are highly vulnerable to contract the virus. We made direct requests from the Health Services Director General. However, the Government did not take our request seriously,” Mr. Wijerathne said. 

We requested the Government to vaccinate the private bus operators  two months ago as they are highly vulnerable to contract the virus. We  made direct requests from the Health Services Director General. However,  the Government did not take our request seriously 

“We want to have the vaccine on a priority basis, similar to the Government’s step to inoculate the front line workers.We have about 45,000 operators in the private bus service and we emphasize that the owners too need to be vaccinated, since they collect the daily collection from the bus crew,” he said.  

Moreover, Mr. Wijerathne said none of the employees in the transport sector including the SLTB or the Railway Department had been vaccinated.  

“There could be a collapse in the transport sector, if the virus spread among them.Therefore, the LPBOA has decided to stop their services by next week, if the Government does not take any meaningful steps to vaccinate them during the course of this week,” Mr. Wijerathne added.