Ruling party men obstacle to discipline in transport sector: RSF
A section of the ruling party collects toll from the transport sector in the country. This group is the main obstacle to bringing discipline in the sector. A strong political will is needed to bring some order to the road transport sector of the country.
These observations were made at a press briefing titled ‘Public transport management in the country and review of road safety’ at ithe RSF office in the city’s Dhanmondi today.
Road Safety Foundation and Road Safety Watch.com jointly organised the press briefing marking the upcoming national road safety day on 22 October.
RSF’s chairman and Dhaka University’s sociology department professor IAM Mahbub Uddin Ahmed in his speech said the road transport system in the country is in haphazard condition. No initiatives to restore order in the roads are being implemented properly.
He said an opportunist group hinders bringing order to the sector and it is hindering implementation of the road transport act using various pretexts. The ruling party men in every government control the transport sector of the country through extortion.
Proper feasibility studies were not conducted
The press conference said that public transports carry 53 per cent of passengers and private vehicles carry 11 per cent in the capital. Yet over 70 per cent of the roads are occupied by private vehicles and rickshaws. People are forced to commute on motorbikes due to traffic jams. Over 1.3 million motorbikes ply on the Dhaka streets.
The press briefing alleges various projects were undertaken in the city to ease traffic jams but proper feasibility studies were not conducted.
Flyovers, overpasses, U-Loops and an elevated expressway have been constructed in the city but these projects could do little to ease traffic jams and rather exacerbated the situation, said the press briefing.
The press conference apprehended that metro rail and subway would do little to improve the traffic congestion in the city given the increasing pressure of people in the city.
According to RSF, a total of 25,924 road accidents claimed 29,001 lives and injured 42,388 in the country between 2019 and 2023. Of the victims, 9,309 lost their lives in motorbike accidents. Of the people who died in the accidents, 7665 were pedestrians and 3,896 students.
The RSF recommended that 4000 modern buses should be introduced in Dhaka spending Tk 100 to 120 billion.
Recommendations are flouted
According to RSF, a total of 25,924 road accidents claimed 29,001 lives and injured 42,388 in the country between 2019 and 2023. Of the victims, 9,309 lost their lives in motorbike accidents. Of the people who died in the accidents, 7665 were pedestrians and 3,896 students.
The RSF said probe committees are formed after major accidents but the recommendations made by the committee are not implemented. The suggestions made by the committees for bringing order to the road are also flouted.
‘Many won’t get compensation’
The RSF said although the government has started providing compensation to the family of road accident victims, many would not receive the reparation due to fund shortage. The process to avail the compensation would be time-consuming and difficult for the poor and middle income people. Applying for compensation, investigation and submission of report by police and reviewing the application would procrastinate the process.
The RSF recommended an ‘Independent Fund’ for the victims of the road accidents.
Strong political will needed
The press briefing made several recommendations to bring order in the sector. The recommendations include increasing the initiative to create trained drivers, fixing the work-hour of the drivers, capacity building of BRTA, banning low-speed vehicles on highways, constructing road dividers in every highway, preventing extortion in the public transport sector, renovating rail tracks and waterways to ease pressure from roads, enforcing sustainable transport strategy and implementing road transport act properly.
The RSF said corruption and extortion in the sector must be stopped and a strong political will of the government can make it happen.
RSF’s vice chairman Syed Jahangir, Hasina Begum, Abdullah Md Ferdous Khan, Rashed Khan, Road Safety Watch.com’s editor Harun Or-Rashid, associate professor of Patuakhali Science and Technology University Zillur Rahman, consultant of the World Bank Md Taufiquzzaman and chief executive officer of Regent Digital Aminur Rahim, among others, were present at the press briefing.