Launch operations to be suspended until fare is raised

The launch owners announced on Saturday that they will not operate their launches until their demand for an increase in fares is met in line with the price hike of diesel.

The unofficial decision came on Saturday noon following a meeting of launch owners at the office of Bangladesh Inland Waterways Association (passenger vessels) in Sadarghat of Dhaka.

However, the association officially didn’t announce anything about the matter.

Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, president of the association, said "I sent the proposal to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) for raising launch fares per kilometre. The chairman of BIWTA assured that he will inform me about the matter by Saturday noon. But he didn’t do so. The launch owners came to me and said they don’t have the money to purchase fuel. In this situation, none of us would operate the launches.”

He said the owners will not operate their launches until their demands including raising fare are not met.

The association demanded to increase the fare to Tk 3.4 per kilometre from Tk 1.7 for travelling the first 100 kilometres and Tk 2.8 per kilometre from Tk 1.4 for beyond the 100 kilometres.