The Ministry of Passenger Transport Management is planning on importing over 2,000 luxury buses to strengthen the public transport service, The Sunday Morning learnt. The buses are to be imported at a cost of Rs. 1,750 million. Minister of Passenger Transport Mahinda Amaraweera told The Sunday Morning that discussions were underway with several companies over the move to import buses. “We are still at the early phase of this project and have only just initiated discussions. We hope to take this initiative forward in the near future,” he said, adding that the buses would be imported in stages. The Minister said that a new fleet of buses for the country was essential. “The current fleet we have is either too old or not the best quality when compared with the kind of comfortable buses that are a part of public transport in other countries. Some of our buses are over 20 years old,” he said. He also said that there was a shortage of buses. Furthermore, he said that the existing fleet would not be discarded unwarrantedly when the new buses take over. “The old buses would be used for routes that are not travelled much while the new ones would be commissioned to run on the main roads and highways,” he added. – Skandha Gunasekara