Railways deprived of investment
Over the past 30 to 40 years Sri Lanka’s railway system has been deprived of sufficient investment, Sri Lanka Railways General Manager Dr. T.L Gunaruwan stated yesterday.
Addressing the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2008 Dr. Gunaruwan further stated that although the Department received hundreds of billions of Rupees in the 1970s to develop its network, in the last two to three decades only Rs.30 billion has been allocated for such activities. “The challenge at present is not the availability of investment but how to use the capital productively. The answer is not to restructure the railways but to restructure the entire industry,” he claimed.
Dr. Gunaruwan stressed that without the injection of funds and investment, the country would face a mass “chock-a-block”. According to him although Sri Lanka’s railroad network caters to approximately 6% of the country’s transport needs, there should be continuous investment in this system. When questioned whether there will be a role for the private sector, Gunaruwan replied that the Department should not be compelled to focus on things which could be handled by the private sector.
He pointed out that the private sector will not be able to takeover the entire management as “they would be asking for too much”. He however added that the private sector could be involved in rail-based tourism, logistics management, restaurants, catering facilities and the supplying of parts to the Railways Department. Gunaruwan noted that with 3 litres of diesel a train can travel 1 kilometre carry 1,000 people whereas it takes a bus 6 litres of diesel to travel the same distance. Therefore he observed that the government could save a large amount of fuel and prevent congestion on the roads by promoting railway travel.
Meanwhile National Transport Commission Chairman Professor Amal Kumarage declared that the cost of transport is increasing heavily in the country, not only in terms of fuel but also in terms of time consumption and inconvenience. “The fuel cost of the country is US$3 billion which is more than 10% of GDP and the cost of infrastructure in highways is Rs.75 billion while railways is Rs.20 billion,” he revealed.
Professor Kumarage claimed that the country’s total transport cost in Sri Lanka is a staggering Rs.800 billion. The Professor noted that although there is a myth of inadequate infrastructure, when compared to the other nations in the region, Sri Lanka is ahead in almost every index. The problem in the Sri Lankan transport sector, according to Professor Kumarage is that the resources have not being used efficiently and at an optimum level.
He added that Sri Lanka has the highest density of rural roads in this world. “We build 2000-3000 km of rural roads every year but 2000-3000 km are abandoned every year as well as there is no maintenance,” he stated. He however divulged that the country’s road system can be brought to a maintainable level within another ten years but at present 90% of the network is not at this level and are beyond repair.
In conclusion the professor explained that in order to reduce the use of private vehicles his Department is in the process of developing public transport through initiatives such as value addition which includes school buses and premium buses, lower commuting for schools and tourist access to rural areas such as the Uva Province.
Source: Dailymirror
