You totally fail in transport management, Mujibul Haque tells minister in parliament

Jatiya Party secretary general lawmaker Md Mujibul Haque has strongly criticised the transport system and repeated road accident in the country saying, “I would tell the road transport minister that doing a lot of development work but have totally failed in transportation.”

Mujibul Haque made these remarks while speaking on a point of order in parliament on Sunday. He strongly criticised the transport management of the capital, and questioned whether transport owners maintain a nexus with the government.

He said, “Today, 2.4 million driving licences are still pending. Vehicles cannot move in Dhaka city. There is no good bus service. Does the government have the capacity to launch some 500-1,000 new buses? People will buy tickets and travel. There are lines and lines of people after buying tickets, but no bus to ride. Transport is inadequate. I will request the people concerned to look into the matter.”

Referring to the death of a North South University student in Dhaka, Mujibul Haque said the girl was killed after a vehicle hit her while she was riding a scooter on a flyover. A ramshackle bus that did not even have brakes ran over a woman in front of her daughter when she went to take her daughter from Qamrunnesa Girls School on Wednesday. And a certain Sabina Yesmin died after being hit by a bus in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Mujibul Haque said, “The present government can claim they have done a lot of development but there is no policy or proper management on transport in capital Dhaka.”

There is no way to go out in Dhaka city. Most of buses moving in Dhaka are old and shabby and do not have licences, do not abide by law either and these vehicles park on road here and there, he added.

Pointing to another Jatiya Party lawmaker Mashiur Rahman sitting just next him, Mujibul Haque said, “The president of Bangladesh Bus Owners’ Association has sat next to me. I will tell them to be kind to people. Many vehicles do not have brakes; many run on old engines and so forth but neither anyone nor the government monitor this. Bus owners with a nexus with the government are creating sufferings to people,”

Criticising the price hike, Mujibul Haque said since he is not involved in business, he needs not to tell lies. He went to market two days ago and saw price of aubergine increased to Tk 70 a kg from Tk 40 a kg a week ago. Price of cucumber rose to Tk 100 a kg from Tk 100 a kg, onions Tk 35 a kg from Tk 30 a kg and price of red meat Tk 650 a kg from 630 a kg; price of sugar increased by Tk 5 a kg. Only soybean oil saw a fall in price.

Taking the floor on the point of order, Jatiya Party lawmaker Mashiur Rahman replied to remarks of Mujibul Haque. Mashiur Rahman said, “My colleague, I was the secretary general of Jatiya Party for two years before you. Is he angry with me because I am the president of Bangladesh Bus Owners’ Association or is he angry seeing the suffering of the people? I could not understand how he could say so. He did not tell me about the transport issue either.”

Mashiur Rahman claimed a bus cannot take three trips in Dhaka due to traffic jam and their revenue falls more than before. Law enforcement agencies and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority look after the fitness of buses and if any bus does not have fitness, fine is imposed and vehicle is dumped.

Mashiur Rahman said if there is any allegation against any vehicle and he is informed of it he could have taken immediate action even sitting in the parliament.