The government has begun the procurement process to import 200 luxury buses for Sri Lanka’s expressway and long-distance transport services, the Acting Chief Executive of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), M.A.N. Dhammika Ratna, said on Thursday.
About 170 of the buses will be deployed on expressway routes, with the remaining 30 assigned to long-distance services from Colombo to other parts of the country, NewsFirst reported. Ratna said the move aims to meet passenger demand during long holidays and festive seasons.
The announcement drew immediate pushback from the Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association. Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne told Newswire the same day that Rs. 7 billion in public funds was being “wasted” on the government’s separate Metro Bus initiative, which he charged was an SLTB scheme operating under a different name.
“It is because of the SLTB that passenger transport in Sri Lanka was destroyed. Now, by introducing Metro buses, this government is doing the same again. This is how the Treasury is being wiped out. This is a national crime,” Wijeratne said.
He argued that the Metro Bus rollout would replicate previous SLTB inefficiencies rather than address structural problems in public transport, draining taxpayer money without improving service.
The SLTB-versus-private-operator tension is not new — private operators have repeatedly opposed direct state competition on profitable routes — but this is the first cross-attack since the Cabinet approved a new methodology for inter-provincial bus permits earlier this year. The expansion also lands as the government plans an automated expressway toll system by year-end.
