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Faster
and faster to disaster Some petrol shed owners claim that private bus operators, especially those who ply long distance routes, often pumped a few litres of petrol along with the quota of diesel. It is alleged that this practice was introduced by a company that operated buses from the North Central Province plying via the North Western Province. Although some regular passengers of the ill-fated bus charged that the previous day the bus had stalled at Kadawatha due to some technical defects and had to be push-started to resume the journey, the husband of the owner of the bus claimed the bus was in tip-top shape but admitted that the driver was not registered with the National Transport Commission. The vehicle is registered under the name of his wife Deepani Silva. In another development, it is reported that the buses of a particular company, that had the patronage of a North Central Provincial Council member, were popular among travellers as they used to take Colombo bound passengers from Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa through Kurunegala. They had also earned the reputation of getting to their destinations earlier than inter-city buses. It is also alleged that this company had wielded this influence to ply many buses on different routes. This had resulted in an unhealthy competition with other bus operators on the same route, with little or no control over the quality or safety of the services. Regular private bus passengers on this route also claimed that if they canvassed for more passengers they were rewarded with a free ride to Colombo. According to eye witnesses of Wednesday's tragedy, the ill-fated bus had been travelling at a high speed, probably a result of the intense competition that had been building up for years. It is also alleged that the driver had a temporary licence issued by the Gokarella police. The licence that had been issued for 14 days had expired at the time of the accident. The temporary licence had been issued following an earlier traffic offence committed by the same driver. It is alleged that police had failed to apprehend the driver, before the fatal accident- even though he had driven past the police station several times after the licence had expired. Some passengers charged that the same driver had committed a similar offence at the Muttetuwegama railway crossing on the same route. They say although private buses and motor cyclists who had attempted to cross here, were heavily fined by police earlier, the police had become slack in recent times. They said the big space in between the crossings at Mutthetugala and Yangalmodera-where Wednesday's accident occur- tempted some reckless and daredevil drivers to do a zig-zag crossing while the rail gates were shut. Many accidents had been reported from both these spots, with a constable on a motor bicycle being the most recent victim, three months back. Meanwhile, Wayamba DIG Asoka Ratnaweera said it was sheer recklessness on the part of the driver and conductor that caused the horrific accident on Wednesday and they were being given police protection at the Kurunegala hospital, as the people in the area were after their blood. Meanwhile the bus owner from Badulla said this was the only bus he owned and it had not been involved in any accident in the past year, since he bought it. "It was popular among passengers. My father too was a businessman and a driver. My usual driver Asad takes leave after a ten day stint and I too drive sometimes", he said. He said that his name and the conductor Buddhika's names were registered in the transport commission as drivers and not Azad's name as they had to make frequent switches. He said he was not yet aware of the cause of the accident and knew only what was in the media. "Maybe it was the fate of the passengers to be involved in this accident. I am shocked by it," he said. Special
British team Steps
to make roads safe An Executive member of the Centre for Management, in Colombo, Rohan Wickramasinghe said according to their findings transport services in the country had fallen by the wayside because of the salary structure, uncontrolled issue of route permits and unqualified drivers and conductors. He said that for the bus driver or condutor to earn Rs. 300 a day the bus would need to generate an income of at least Rs, 3000 per day and that explained why there was fierce and sometimes reckless competition, posing a grave danger to commuters and pedestrians. "The tragedy on Wednesday was probably caused by an attempt to earn more by overtaking other buses. They are doing this just to get their daily wages raised," he said. He said the centre believes that the bus crew should be paid a fixed salary to avoid future accidents of this nature. He also said the issuing of route permits, which is both uncontrolled and politicised, is another obstacle. "What we propose is to consider the area when issuing route permits. If it's a populated area, it's quite alright to issue a number of route permits. But for a sparsely populated area this would only do more harm than be of any service. He also said the Centre has drafted a Diploma syllabus for conductors, who are now operating with little or no qualifications. "We have informed the relevant authorities that we could conduct this diploma free of charge and we are awaiting their response," he said. The contents of the Diploma course includes a code of ethics, dress, soft skill scheme and cash management for conductors. This course includes communication skills and commuter relations. |
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