Sri Lanka state bus service lose Rs8.4b

COLOMBO, April 15 (LBO): Sri Lanka's over-staffed state-run bus services lost 8.4 billion rupees in 2010, up 4.9 per cent from the 8.4 billion rupees a year earlier, eating up billions of rupees of taxes extracted from the people from other means. Sri Lanka Transport Board, originally started by violating the property rights of citizens and forcibly 'nationalising' assets, is a long-standing symbol of the state speculating with people's money on businesses and losing heavily. The SLTB also gives cut rate 'season tickets' to state workers. In 2010, a 1.6-billion-rupee subsidy was given to the bus utility to operate 'uneconomic' routes and school bus services, the central bank's annual report said. It was also given 5.0 billion rupees in other subsidies. The bus service had operated 16.2 billion passenger kilometres in 2010 up 7.6 per cent. It has earned revenues of 15.2 billion rupees and spent 23.6 billion on operations.