bandula
12-28-2006, 06:34 PM
No more free school season tickets
Free season tickets from school children withdrawn
The Government says that the decision to withdraw free season tickets from school children is in response to public demand.
Since the introduction of free season tickets we have received a lot of complaints from general public thus we decided to remove this privilege, , Deputy Minister of Transport, Lasantha Alagiyawanna told BBC Sandeshaya.
In a letter circulated to local transport authorities Sri Lanka Central Transport Board (SLCTB) chairman Tudor Dayaratne says that the transport minister had directed to charge a fee when providing season tickets to students incuding student monks.
Earlier the government provided free travel in SLCTB busses for students.
Thousands of people said that after the changes the SLCTB was unable to provide a good service to students so we decided to reintroduce subsidised season tickets the deputy minister, Alagiyawanne said.
Now we charge 10 percent of the value of a full season ticket instead of issuing them free from next January. We plan to issue free season tickets to children from low income families in the future,he said.
Deputy Minister Alagiyawanne said, SLCTB cancelled the privilege solely due to the demand of the general public.
However, he added that the government has not stopped its subsidy scheme and still its giving 250,000 rupees worth of subsidy per month.
News from BBC >http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2006/12/061227_bus_passes.shtml
Free season tickets from school children withdrawn
The Government says that the decision to withdraw free season tickets from school children is in response to public demand.
Since the introduction of free season tickets we have received a lot of complaints from general public thus we decided to remove this privilege, , Deputy Minister of Transport, Lasantha Alagiyawanna told BBC Sandeshaya.
In a letter circulated to local transport authorities Sri Lanka Central Transport Board (SLCTB) chairman Tudor Dayaratne says that the transport minister had directed to charge a fee when providing season tickets to students incuding student monks.
Earlier the government provided free travel in SLCTB busses for students.
Thousands of people said that after the changes the SLCTB was unable to provide a good service to students so we decided to reintroduce subsidised season tickets the deputy minister, Alagiyawanne said.
Now we charge 10 percent of the value of a full season ticket instead of issuing them free from next January. We plan to issue free season tickets to children from low income families in the future,he said.
Deputy Minister Alagiyawanne said, SLCTB cancelled the privilege solely due to the demand of the general public.
However, he added that the government has not stopped its subsidy scheme and still its giving 250,000 rupees worth of subsidy per month.
News from BBC >http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2006/12/061227_bus_passes.shtml