Your View...
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Bouquet to the Indo-Sri Lanka Ambulance Service
A couple of weeks ago, I had a fall in my residence, and fractured my right hip bone. On a telephone call to 1990, two officers of the EMT pilot crew arrived within 15 minutes.
They very carefully put me onto a stretcher, carried me, and placed me on the trolley of the ambulance. On my request, I was admitted to the Sri Jayawardenepura General Hospital.
I am very thankful to the authorities for introducing this valuable service despite baseless objections from a few opposition members.
S.P. Fonseka,
Nugegoda.
My dream
My Dream is about the Public Transport Service in Sri Lanka. I hope recording it would not be a futile exercise.
Buses should not be allowed to overload, the authorities must think of the comfort of the passengers. Only 6 standing passengers should be allowed. Buses should not be allowed to remain stationary at any intermediate bus stop for more than two minutes except at the beginning and end of their journeys. Buses going to the same destination with the same route number should not be allowed to overtake, eliminating racing of buses and thereby minimizing accidents.
The bus fares nominated are crazy and they are specified in such a manner that the passengers do not get the correct change most of the time. Only the conductor benefits since they do not even issue tickets most of the time. My dream is to eliminate this by arranging the manner how bus fares are specified. I will give the following as an example but the actual fares may be calculated according to some acceptable formula. For the moment we shall consider the existing fares.
The minimum fare can be raised to Rs10.00 since the balance is very rarely given to the passengers. It would be better to give that money to the bus owner than the conductor since it will encourage him to provide a better bus service. The following table of fares is given as an example:
Existing Fare Suggested Fare
Basic Fare Rs 9.00 Rs 10.00
Rs 11.00 & Rs 13.00 Rs10.00
Rs 14.00 & Rs 17.00 Rs15.00
Rs 18.00 & Rs 22.00 Rs 20.00
Rs 23.00 & Rs 27.00 Rs 25.00
Rs 28.00 & Rs 32.00 Rs 30.00
Rs 33.00 & Rs 37.00 Rs 35.00
Rs 38.00 & Rs 42.00 Rs 40.00
Rs 41.00 & Rs 47.00 Rs 45.00
Rs 46.00 & Rs 52.00 Rs 50.00
Rs 51.00 & Rs 57.00 Rs 55.00
And so on ....
In this scenario, if the conductor has no change available to be given to the passenger, then a higher amount should be given charging a lower fare. Passengers should not be penalized for not having the required change for the bus fare; it should be the responsibility of the conductor to have sufficient change.
Similarly, the rail fares should also be increased by a moderate amount without causing a financial problem to rail passengers. This is a long overdue exercise since the Sri Lanka Railways has been losing a considerable amount of money over the years. Also, it would be appropriate to give special concessions to season ticket holders so that passengers can be encouraged to buy them. That way, the railway will increase their income thereby improve their financial status. They can also increase the number of trains for each journey while increasing the number of carriages allowing them to carry more passengers thus eliminating those who ride on the door steps- again reducing the number of potential accidents.
There are many more dreams to add, but the readers may have many more to add to this list. but this would be sufficient for the moment to start with.
Kithsiri de Silva