Down the pallan
State-run bus companies are dying or allowed to die?
By Nalaka Nonis
Sri Lanka's state-run bus service is on a road that leads nowhere but to a precipice. With a bid to privatise the state-run bus companies now on hold and the government showing little interest in coming to their rescue, the 12 state-run cluster bus companies are all but destined to doom.

Finding it difficult even to meet their day-to-day expenses, the state-run bus companies wander in wilderness, not knowing what to do. It appears that the only option the management of these bus companies is left with is allowing the state of affairs to continue until there is no bus is left in running condition. This was the impression we got when we interviewed the officials of the state-run bus companies.

But this does not mean that there is no silver-lining. When the private buses went on a strike last week, some state-run bus companies were able to increase their income by more than double. This indicates there is scope for improvement if the state bus companies can give a good run to the private bus operators.

One of the shocking discoveries was that not a single bus had been added to the fleet of the state-run bus services during the past two years while hundreds of buses have been dumped aside in broken-down condition for want of funds required for their repairs.

Cluster bus companies complain that of the fleet under their control, about half are in running condition and warn that even the available fleet is dwindling. They say they are unable to provide a quality service because they do not generate enough funds or get government assistance to carry out even minor repairs.

"The income we generate from our daily operation is not simply enough to meet our expenses. We need the government's intervention in a big way for the smooth running of the bus service. The amount we are getting from the government is hardly adequate." These words sum up a common complaint made by state-run bus service officials who also say their problems are complicated and multi-faceted.

They say at least 25 to 30 percent of the fleet is out of operation at any given time as they are in need of repairs. Adding to their malice is an unproductive or under-productive work force of drivers, conductors and mechanics. One cannot blame them, because there is little or no motivation in the form of attractive salaries or perks. Cluster bus company officials said every month they faced an uphill task to pay the salaries of the employees. The general picture we got was that every cluster company is grappled with the problem of more workers, fewer buses in running condition and less work.

"In the Rajarata Bus Company, there are eight workers per bus for some 323 buses which are in operation", Managing Director D. S. Wickremasekara said, complaining about the low productivity at the depot. Some buses that have been kept out of service can be put into operation, as they require minor repairs or replacements such as changing tyres or changing parts of the engine or the gear box. But the administration is unable to allocate funds for this, because their first priority with the money available is to pay the salaries of employees.

The Colombo Metropolitan Bus Company with a massive fleet of 1400 buses says only 700 buses are in running condition though it requires at least 1,000 buses to meet the time table requirement. Managing Director Shelton Peiris told The Sunday Times that 74 buses of the 700 buses that had been kept out of operation needed only change of tyres while the rest required repairs to the engine, gearbox, and the steering wheel, though some of these repairs were being attended to.

He said that the company was running at a loss because it could not even increase the bus fares in keeping with the hikes in diesel price. "We have to cover a loss of Rs. 4 for every litre of diesel we buy," he said adding that the company's daily diesel requirement was about 35,000 litres. He said that their daily income was Rs. 2.2 million though the income reached a peak of Rs. 5.3 million on Monday when the private bus operators started a strike.

Mr. Peiris acknowledged that the company was finding it difficult to face the competition from private buses, as the time tables have been set up in a manner that their buses start travelling just five minutes after a private bus has traveled in the same route.

But commuters said some state-run bus employees were in cahoots with private bus operators, allowing the latter to pick as many commuters as possible. Sabaragamuwa Bus Company Managing Director K.A. Dhanapala said that out of their fleet of 1046 buses, only about 700 are in use while the timetable requirement was 867. The records at the bus company shows that about 250 buses need airs but little work is done in this regard.

"A single bus has not been added to the fleet during the last two years," he said stressing a fact that was common to all cluster bus companies. "We do not get rebates such as uneconomical routes rebate from the Government in time. Salary increases have not been fully implemented and even the payment of salaries gets delayed three to four days", Mr. Dhanapala said, adding that 48 percent of the income was used up for diesel alone.

He said that at least two buses break down daily with damage to the springs because they plied on rutty roads. The 542-bus Kalutara Bus Company has only about 280 in good condition though the timetable requirement is 480. Its Chairman N.C.D Sugathapala said they faced a serious spare parts shortage, especially with regard to tyres.

The situation at the Ruhuna Bus Company which has a fleet of 835 is no different.
To run an efficient service it requires 710 buses, but the company has only 300 buses in running condition. Here, too, most of the buses are out of service because the company does not have enough funds to attend to even minor repairs such as replacing a tyre or a small part in the engine or the gear box.

Chairman Pandula Silva said that the workers did not receive salary increases on time and admitted that the company was overstaffed. Wayamba Bus Company Managing Director Adikari Premasiri said only 488 buses out of a fleet of 831 buses were in good running condition though the time-table requirement was 659.

"The main problem is the lack of spare parts. We need 400 tyres a month and spare parts required for the repairs of at least two engines a day. A couple of months ago, we got engines and 280 tyres from the Treasury but we continuously need them for the maintenance of the fleet. Without government intervention, the state-run bus service cannot be run," he said.

The 700-bus Kandy Bus Company has only 500 buses in running condition whereas the timetable requirement is 650. Chairman D. R. D. Ratnayake said the routes on which five buses were operated earlier now got only three buses. Financial problems, overstaffing, buses being kept out of service for want of repairs are the order of the day in this bus company as well.

Uva Bus Company Chairman Wilfred Ratnayake said at least 50 buses should be added to the fleet of 393 buses in good condition to run and provide an efficient service. The chairman said that of the buses that had been kept out of service, 45 required tyres and 108 needed engine repairs. He said the company lost Rs. 5,000 from each of these buses that were out of service.

In the Nuwara Eliya Bus Company, about 300 buses are in operation while about 60 buses are under repairs or in need of repair, an official said. New Eastern Bus Company Managing Director A. Kamaradeen said they were running the company despite the income they generated was insufficient to meet the expenditure. About 125 buses belonging to this company require repairs.

The demands put forward by the private bus operators were:
1. free training to drivers and conductors
2. right to transfer road permits when selling buses.
3. stop the insistence by the Authority to mini bus owners to introduce larger buses.
4. stop imposing permits and service payments and fines
5. removal of recently imposed Budget taxes.
6. allowing private buses to operate on time allocated for state buses which is now inoperative.
7. recognizing group of 50 bus owners or over as bus companies and preparing a National Transport Policy that applies to National Transport Commission (NTC) and the Provincial Transport Authorities.
8. including one person to the Board of Directors on the recommendations of accepted private bus companies of different provinces when assigning the Board of Directors to the NTC and other transport Authorities.
9. scrapping the system of calling tenders for route permits and office transport service
10. withdraw the Transport Authority requirement for 42 seater buses, instead of smaller buses that operate on short distances even on A grade roads at present.

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