Barely eight months after the establishment of the mass urban road transportation scheme, about half the fleet of buses has broken down because of difficulties in replacing worn out parts.

At the Government Technical Training Center (GTTC), the headquarters of Metro Transport, 17 out of the estimated 25 being used in the metropolis, which were donated by the Italian government free of charge have been grounded.

Investigations revealed that, Easy Link, another company operating the double-decked buses, popularly known as ‘Auntie Dede’ is also facing a similar problem as two thirds of its fleet has been grounded too.

An official of the Italian Embassy told the Business and Financial Times newspaper that the Italian government provided two containers of spare parts and said arrangements were underway to get communities in Italy to add more parts and buses to support the program.

The Chairman of the Metro Transport is in Italy in connection with problems on hand.