Just two days after President Ranil Wickremasinghe declared open a state-of-the art fly-over bridge in the heart of Colombo to ease off traffic congestion, thousands of Sri Lankans wishing to head to their villages to celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year were left stranded without transport to take them home.
Chaotic scenes were the order of the day at Colombo’s main bus terminal as well as the City’s busiest railway station that links all parts of the country.
Many commuters claimed they were given false hopes and a raw deal that transport facilities would be improved during the festive rush but were left high and dry while several people waited for up to six hours to catch a bus or train out of Colombo.
Sri Lanka’s public transport system is one of the worst in Asia and the syndrome continues year after year with no solution in sight while governments make a big song and dance at opening new roads in the country.
Many passengers including the very old were seen hanging dangerously on the doors of train compartments as massive crowds jostled for seats or what was left of the space inside.
“We have been fooled, dragged into this situation and let down very badly. We can put up with delays, but to wait for hours and then travel like bats hanging on doors puts us at a greater risk”, said one commuter as some fainted at the main bus terminal in blazing hot sun.
The government said as many as 700 extra busses and 12 more trains were being deployed to meet the demand but nothing was visible to that effect as time was running out for people wishing to be at home for the New Year on April 13 that traditionally marks an abundant rice harvest celebrated by both the majority Sinhalese and minority Hindus.
“Taking into account the existing transport schedules, we have 700 more buses to join the fleet to overcome the problem and facilitate travel from Colombo,” said Nayomi Jayawardena the acting director of the National Transport Commission.
The government’s public transport system is supplemented by privately owned busses but more chaos is likely.
“We can step in to ease off the crisis but we can also expect more demands in the next day or two”, said the chairman of the Private Bus Owners Association Gemunu Wijeratne.
However barely 24 hours earlier, SriLankan Airlines posted a comment along with pictures on their Facebook page stating that brand new buses have been purchased to enhance the tourism sector by providing luxury comfort to travelers within the confines of the airport.
The message read “SriLankan Airlines is proud to announce the enhancement of its services to cater to the growing demands of the tourism sector in Sri Lanka. Today we are inducting new passenger busses to enhance our passenger services at BIA. As the National Carrier of Sri Lanka, we recognize the importance of providing top-notch services to our passengers and contributing to the growth of the tourism industry in our beautiful country.”
