Schools across crisis-hit Sri Lanka reopened on Monday after they were closed on July 4 after the country faced an acute shortage of fuel.
According to the Ministry of Education, all government and government approved private schools in the country have reopened.
The Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association said that despite the lack of fuel island-wide, a sufficient number of buses were deployed for school children on Monday, Newsfirst Lanka reported.
The Chairman of Lanka Private Bus Owners Association Gemunu Wijeratne said that fuel was received from several places in the last two days.
The Director General of the National Transport Commission Nilan Miranda said that as per the quantity of fuel received, steps have been taken to deploy buses for the students.
According to the Chairman of All Ceylon School Child Transport Association, Malshree Silva, more vans have been deployed for the transportation of school students due to sufficient fuel being received through Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) Depots.
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) on Monday announced that 7,000 MT of fuel will be distributed throughout the country on July 25.
The CPC further said 4,000 MT of diesel and 3,000 MT of petrol will be distributed to CEYPETCO filling stations.
Sri Lanka has seen months of mass unrest over an economic crisis and many blame the former government led by ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family for mishandling the island nation’s economy.
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.
Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.