Boycott against relocation of Jaffna bus stand continues

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2006, 15:21 GMT]
The protest by the employees of the Jaffna district Central Transport Board (CTB) boycotting work condemning Sri Lankan Army (SLA) action to relocate the Central Bus Terminal from the heart of Jaffna town to an empty area near Pannai Bridge continued for a second day Saturday, CTB employees union officials said. Except for limited transport actiivity related to school children rest of public transport service was crippled by the boycott, Jaffna residents said.

Officials of the Jaffna Transport Board said that they are yet to receive any response from either Minister of Transport Mr Fowzie or from the Jaffna Government Agent to their complaint against unilateral decision by the Military command to move the bus stand without any prior notice.

Meanwhile, local civil society members and officials of the Jaffna Transport Board met at the house of the Jaffna Bishop, Rt Rev Thomas Soundaranayagam Saturday morning to discuss issues with the boycott and the resulting difficulties to public travel, sources in Jaffna said.

Officials of the Sri Lanka Security forces did not participate in the meeting.

The civil society decided to bring to the attention of the SLA command that the CTB officials are prepared to move school buses to the new location but would insist on keeping the transport services to general public at the current location in the center of the town, sources said.

The Bus Terminal in Jaffna town had shelters for the passengers, shelters for the employees, administrative head office and the facilities of fueling the buses. The new location has no such facilities, and will bring severe hardships to civilians who depend on public transport, officials said.

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