FOWZIE WANTS NATIONAL MANAGEMENT (98 Nov 04)
The minister of Transport Mr. Fowzie said recently that if the provincial councils cannot manage the private bus service then the management should be taken over by the government. He said that it is the government which is blamed for the mismanagement by the provincial councils.
At present the private bus services come under the provincial councils. As a result there is no uniform set of rules applied in the case of taxes and other matters. Busses entering areas belonging to different provincial councils have to pay taxes levied by those councils. A bus traveling from Kolomba to Anuradhapura passes through five different provincial councils.
This clearly demonstrates that in a small country like Sri Lanka the system of provincial councils based on the Indian states do not work even economically. As Mr. Fowzie has realised it is high time that the management of the private bus service is brought under the government. Even in the other areas similar problems will crop up and the country will find itself in a mess if the provincial councils continue to function.