Stop contract-based operation immediately

Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association (DRTOA) yesterday once again urged bus owners to abolish the system of daily contracts with drivers and their helpers to bring discipline on roads.

Many bus owners rent out their vehicles to drivers on daily contracts. In this system, drivers pay a specific amount to the owner and to maximise profits, they drive recklessly to make as many trips as possible in a day, said Khondaker Enayet Ullah, general secretary of the association, a platform of Dhaka-based transport owners.

This contractual bus operation creates an unhealthy competition, which often results in accidents, he said. “After consultation with different government bodies, we have decided to abolish this system. But some [bus owners] are still following it,” he said.

“We won't accept the contract system. You [bus owners] have to stop it immediately,” added Enayet. He made the remarks while speaking at an annual general meeting and council session of the association at Mahanagar Natya Mancha in Dhaka.

On August 8 last year, following students' demonstrations for safe roads, the association decided to abolish the system of contractual bus operation with drivers and their helpers in order to stop the buses racing on city streets.

Many bus owners continued the contractual operation instead of following the association's direction.

At yesterday's meeting, Enayet urged the city corporations to support their endeavour through setting up some designated ticket counters so that bus owners can manage the trips without conceding loss.

He also called upon transport owners under his association to hold a consultation meeting with transport workers, including drivers and helpers, on a regular basis (every two months) to motivate them to obey traffic rules.

“If we obey traffic rules, we will be able to develop ourselves along with contributing to the country's development,” he said.

“We have to admit that we have our own faults, as it is visible. But then, we have to go for corrective measures,” he told transport owners.

The transport leader also said it is a fact some drivers drive without licence.

He urged transport owners to help their drivers get valid licence from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority to avoid fines.  Md Kalu Sheikh, managing director of a bus company named “Welcome Paribahan”, alleged that traffic police are mostly engaged in competition among each other to file cases against law violation with an aim to get rewards from the authorities concerned.

He urged police to stop such harassments if all the papers of the vehicles are valid.

At the council session, Abdul Baten Babu was elected president and Enayet Ullah was re-elected general secretary of the association for the next three years. Babu was its former vice-president.