• CEO warns of possible TU action over salary delays

The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has requested an allocation of Rs 1.91 billion from the Treasury through the Ministry of Transport to mitigate a severe liquidity crisis. The financial shortfall has been primarily triggered by the recent surges in global diesel prices combined with mandatory increments in employee salaries.

Last year, the Government provided financial assistance to the State transport entity, allocating approximately Rs. 274 million per month for a period of six months to cover salary expenses. However, with that support having concluded, the institution is now facing difficulties in managing its enhanced recurrent expenditure.

SLTB CEO Dhammika Ratna confirmed the financial constraints and outlined the specific reasons behind the request to the Treasury.

“The background is that diesel prices have increased for us, which subsequently elevated our overall operational costs. Simultaneously, employee salaries were increased recently. Because of these two factors, we faced a financial shortage. Therefore, we requested these additional funds specifically to facilitate the payment of the increased salaries,” Ratna stated.

Addressing the potential consequences of delayed Treasury disbursements, he warned that while daily transport operations would not be halted, the institution would struggle to compensate its workforce.

“Bus operations will continue as usual, but we will face a severe problem in paying employee salaries. I cannot definitively speak on whether the employees will launch a strike, as you will have to ask the employees themselves. However, if the funds are not received on time and salaries cannot be paid, there is a distinct possibility that they might resort to trade union action,” Ratna explained.

Despite the escalating expenditure, the SLTB has not sought authorisation to increase passenger ticket fares yet. Passenger fares are regulated by the National Transport Commission and the SLTB cannot arbitrarily adjust prices to reflect market conditions.

“We need to secure a formal decision from the Board of Directors and formally request a price adjustment by demonstrating that we are incurring a financial loss. As a Government institution, we cannot increase fares whenever we want,” he noted.

To manage the limited resources, the institution has implemented internal fuel conservation measures, although these restrictions strictly exclude passenger transport vehicles.

“We are going with a limit for our administrative office staff. We have instructed the office staff to restrict their fuel usage and eliminate unnecessary travel. However, we have not placed any limits on passenger buses because the Transport Minister explicitly instructed us not to limit fuel for buses. They must definitely run because it is an essential public service,” Ratna said.

He further assured the public that the current financial squeeze would not compromise passenger safety or the mechanical integrity of the active transport fleet.

“Just because the diesel price has increased, there is no negative impact on fleet maintenance or bus safety. This current issue is solely related to our financial responsibilities and liquidity management,” Ratna concluded.