Deputy Minister of Transport Prasanna Gunasekara says except for the Northern region, all other regional depots of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) are operating buses at 100% normal capacity today.
Employees of SLTB depots launched a strike from midnight yesterday, opposing the newly introduced unified timetable, and withdrew from operating buses.
However, it was observed that buses in most parts of the country continued to operate as usual.
Deputy Minister Gunasekara further stated that the strike cannot be justified as reasonable.
He emphasized that the unified timetable will continue to be implemented and that revisions can be made at any time after reviewing the demands.
The Deputy Minister of Transport also announced that within a year, a system will be introduced to pay bus fares via smart cards.Â
He noted that the failure to issue proper travel passes has resulted in daily revenue losses exceeding several million rupees for the SLTB. (Islandnews)
