A total of 175 discarded Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses have been repaired and redeployed for operation, the President’s Media Division (PMD) Reported.
According to the PMD, President Ranil Wickremesinghe received official information regarding the repair of 175 buses owned by the SLTB.
These buses had been taken out of service due to the lack of spare parts as a result of the country’s import restrictions. Minister of Transport Bandula Gunawardena presented the relevant documents to the President.
A project was initiated at the depot level, following the instructions of Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena and was funded by the general treasury allocation.
The goal was to refurbish 400 out of 852 buses that had been out of service for over three years. As part of this project, 175 buses were restored to operation at a cost of nearly Rs. 300 million. The repair work was carried out with the involvement of engineers and technicians from the technical department of the Sri Lanka Transport Board.
Out of these 175 buses, 15 will be allocated to the “Sisu Seriya” program, serving as transportation for school children. The remaining buses will be handed over to respective depots to fulfil passenger transportation needs.
The event was attended by the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board, S.M.D.L.K. de Alwis, Chief Executive Officer Mahesh Kulathilaka, Deputy General Manager Panduka Swarnahansa, and Chief Mechanical Engineer Lakshman Pushpakumara. (NewsWire)