"I am not a person to quit. If I quit, then who would work?" Akbar told The Daily Star over telephone last night.

The minister said the aim of a good minister is to work and tried to work better.

Akbar shrugged off the responsibility of serial launch accidents saying that all vessels were not built during the BNP rule.

"We took action against 40 unfit launches, but the previous government did not do anything," he claimed.

"Their licences will not be renewed unless the flaws are corrected," he said of the action taken by the government. He has admitted that those launches are still plying various waterways.

Asked why he did not visit the accident site of MV Nasrin-1 that sank in the Meghna near Chandpur Tuesday night, Akbar said, "I will go there after the vessel is traced. I will try my best to salvage it." He said all the people concerned of his ministry have already been dispatched to the spot for investigation.

Besides, Water Resources Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and State Minister for Religious Affairs Mosharef Hossain Shajahan are also on the scene, the minister said.

Akbar promised that further action would be taken against those responsible for the launch accidents.

The latest disaster, in which about 530 passengers were feared drowned, may bring the number of casualties to 1,230 -- a count on eight major river accidents since the BNP-led government came to power and Akbar became the shipping minister.

As the list of some major launch accidents during the period goes: MV Salahuddin capsized on May 5, 2002 killing 450 passengers; the MV Shubha tragedy on May 30, 2002 claimed 30 lives and MV Mitali sank leaving 131 dead.