Aug 06, Colombo: A railway union of Sri Lanka says it will take stern trade action if the government fails to recover the losses from the damage to the trains caused by the contaminated diesel stock.

Sumathipala Manawadu, Secretary of All Lanka Railway Employees' Union vowed to take stern trade union action unless the authorities take actions to recover the loss and damage caused to 36 power sets by substandard diesel.

Addressing media yesterday, Manawadu said that the loss to Sri Lanka Railway due to substandard diesel amounts to about Rs 30 million.

The union leader suggested the loss should be recovered from the country's state-run petroleum importer and distributor Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

The controversial supply of the diesel is from the global company Vitol based in Singapore. However, the company denies that the oil they supplied was contaminated.

Meanwhile, the Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association charged that over 1,000 buses were damaged after refueling with substandard fuel. About 200 buses are completely not functional.