A welcome move
The Coronavirus has not only dismantled set routines, practices and conduct hitherto taken for granted but also inbuilt structures and ways of thinking too. Now, moves are afoot to make some of these changes legally binding and to make them stick.
One of the aspects that the authorities are focusing on is the comfort and convenience of the travelling public. According to our front page story in yesterday’s edition, Transport Minister Mahinda Amaraweera is to make seating arrangements in buses and trains, post Coronavirus, to remain unchanged by law. In other words, SLTB and private buses and trains will be required by law to ferry passengers strictly according to their seating capacity.
Passengers in buses/trains will henceforth be occupying the rows of seats at a decent space with no standing accommodation permitted. This move, no doubt, will be most welcomed by commuters, who had to endure the severe ordeal of being forced to travel in overcrowded buses and trains packed like sardines.
It is time that private bus operators are forced to comply with the new laws since they have for long been a law unto themselves, flouting road rules and riding roughshod over passengers. The authorities should ensure that the new law is strictly implemented.
In our experience, most of the existing laws governing the conduct of private buses are rarely observed, so much so there is no guarantee that this time round things would be any different. For instance, the ban on loud music in private buses which was introduced with much fanfare is no longer in evidence. Will the seating law also go the same way? The minister should ensure that this will not be the case. The social distancing regulations in buses should be enforced to the letter due to the health risk this poses if disregarded.
Of course, there could be protests. A majority of the private buses are off the roads, their operators questioning the financial feasibility of sticking to the guidelines. The Chairman of the Private Bus Owners’ Association is requesting the Government for low-cost fuel to tide over the difficulties. Others point to the economic cost of operating at half capacity. There is also the question of delays encountered by the commuters due to the buses operating at limited capacity. The remedy lies in increasing the fleet of the state run buses and strict timetables.
The new seating law should be the first step by the Transport Minister for a transformation of the private bus service to bring to heel errant private bus operators who up to now had a free run flouting the law. They should be made to strictly fall in line with the prevailing health guidelines and adhere to the Highway Code.
Mercifully, the two month Coronavirus hiatus spared many lives from road accidents- a majority of which are caused by private buses through reckless driving. Let the fresh start made by the country and the changes put in place see an end to deaths on our roads.
As new laws are being enacted to facilitate healthy lifestyles and enforce good practices, the Government has deservedly won all round praise for successfully grappling with the pandemic. Now the spotlight should be on alleviating the hardships of persons who have either lost their livelihoods or forced into financial difficulties due to the prevailing restrictions.
There are hitherto self-employed who have either lost their income avenues or finding it hard going to make ends meet. Among them are those running small eateries who are in a dilemma due to health guidelines. Also affected are school van and office transport services which will be forced to cut down on the numbers they can ferry in keeping with the social distancing regulations. Those involved in the various sectors in the tourism industry are down in the dumps ranging from travel operators, tour guides to safari operators, with no tourists in the country. A long drawn out solution is called for to address the grievances of these segments.
Arumugam Thondaman
He may not have been the Messiah of the plantations his grandfather was, nor command the same degree of influence in the national polity, but Arumugam Thondaman had his own band of followers in the estate sector and the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), the premier Trade Union in the Plantations, he inherited from S. Thondaman.
The passing away of Arumugam Thondaman at the age of 56 on Tuesday, no doubt, is going to leave a not inconsiderable void in the politics of the plantation sector and the estate community as a whole whose interests he continued to protect after the demise of his grandfather. He nearly always held a ministerial portfolio connected to the plantation sector in some way, which made this task easier. He will long be remembered for his services to the plantation sector and to the country in general.
The Coronavirus has not only dismantled set routines, practices and conduct hitherto taken for granted but also inbuilt structures and ways of thinking too. Now, moves are afoot to make some of these changes legally binding and to make them stick.
One of the aspects that the authorities are focusing on is the comfort and convenience of the travelling public. According to our front page story in yesterday’s edition, Transport Minister Mahinda Amaraweera is to make seating arrangements in buses and trains, post Coronavirus, to remain unchanged by law. In other words, SLTB and private buses and trains will be required by law to ferry passengers strictly according to their seating capacity.
Passengers in buses/trains will henceforth be occupying the rows of seats at a decent space with no standing accommodation permitted. This move, no doubt, will be most welcomed by commuters, who had to endure the severe ordeal of being forced to travel in overcrowded buses and trains packed like sardines.
It is time that private bus operators are forced to comply with the new laws since they have for long been a law unto themselves, flouting road rules and riding roughshod over passengers. The authorities should ensure that the new law is strictly implemented.
In our experience, most of the existing laws governing the conduct of private buses are rarely observed, so much so there is no guarantee that this time round things would be any different. For instance, the ban on loud music in private buses which was introduced with much fanfare is no longer in evidence. Will the seating law also go the same way? The minister should ensure that this will not be the case. The social distancing regulations in buses should be enforced to the letter due to the health risk this poses if disregarded.
Of course, there could be protests. A majority of the private buses are off the roads, their operators questioning the financial feasibility of sticking to the guidelines. The Chairman of the Private Bus Owners’ Association is requesting the Government for low-cost fuel to tide over the difficulties. Others point to the economic cost of operating at half capacity. There is also the question of delays encountered by the commuters due to the buses operating at limited capacity. The remedy lies in increasing the fleet of the state run buses and strict timetables.
The new seating law should be the first step by the Transport Minister for a transformation of the private bus service to bring to heel errant private bus operators who up to now had a free run flouting the law. They should be made to strictly fall in line with the prevailing health guidelines and adhere to the Highway Code.
Mercifully, the two month Coronavirus hiatus spared many lives from road accidents- a majority of which are caused by private buses through reckless driving. Let the fresh start made by the country and the changes put in place see an end to deaths on our roads.
As new laws are being enacted to facilitate healthy lifestyles and enforce good practices, the Government has deservedly won all round praise for successfully grappling with the pandemic. Now the spotlight should be on alleviating the hardships of persons who have either lost their livelihoods or forced into financial difficulties due to the prevailing restrictions.
There are hitherto self-employed who have either lost their income avenues or finding it hard going to make ends meet. Among them are those running small eateries who are in a dilemma due to health guidelines. Also affected are school van and office transport services which will be forced to cut down on the numbers they can ferry in keeping with the social distancing regulations. Those involved in the various sectors in the tourism industry are down in the dumps ranging from travel operators, tour guides to safari operators, with no tourists in the country. A long drawn out solution is called for to address the grievances of these segments.
Arumugam Thondaman
He may not have been the Messiah of the plantations his grandfather was, nor command the same degree of influence in the national polity, but Arumugam Thondaman had his own band of followers in the estate sector and the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), the premier Trade Union in the Plantations, he inherited from S. Thondaman.
The passing away of Arumugam Thondaman at the age of 56 on Tuesday, no doubt, is going to leave a not inconsiderable void in the politics of the plantation sector and the estate community as a whole whose interests he continued to protect after the demise of his grandfather. He nearly always held a ministerial portfolio connected to the plantation sector in some way, which made this task easier. He will long be remembered for his services to the plantation sector and to the country in general.
