BRTA Advisory Council: Maiden meeting comes 7 years after inception
A section of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Act-2017 specifies formation of an advisory council under the leadership of the road transport and bridges minister.
The law stipulates seven terms of actions for the advisory council, four of which are directly related to ensuring road safety and bringing discipline to the road transport sector.
The council, according to the act, is supposed to hold a meeting in every four months or anytime in case of an emergency. But it could not hold any meeting in the last seven years when the country saw a gradual and sharp rise in road crashes and deaths.
At long last, the 18-member council is going to hold its maiden meeting on May 15 to discuss several issues, including fixing the economic life of commercial vehicles.
Wishing anonymity, a top BRTA official said the advisory council was formed after the law came into force.
Road crashes and fatalities have increased by 60.28 percent and 40.33 percent respectively in the first three months of this year compared to corresponding period of last year, shows BRTA data.
On April 16, a head-on collision between a bus and a pickup in Faridpur left 15 people dead. The bus had no route permit, fitness certificate, or tax token, while the pickup carried people illegally.
The following day, a truck ploughed intoseveral vehicles in Jhalakathi, killing 14 people and injuring 12 others. The man at the wheel did not have a heavy vehicle driving licence.
Probes into road crashes found either the vehicles involved had no fitness clearances, the drivers had no valid licences, or the roads had issues.
Experts and road safety campaigners have often alleged that some vested quarters having links with the ruling party are behind the anarchy and indiscipline in the road transport sector, which lead to road crashes and deaths. These quarters, who have been benefiting from this situation, want to keep the situation unchanged for their own interests, they said.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS?
The section 10 of the BRTA Act-2017, which was assented by the president in July 2017, says that the advisory council will work to fulfil the purpose of the act.
The road transport and bridges minister will lead the council while the BRTA chairman will act as its member secretary, reads the act.
The mayors of two Dhaka city corporations, secretaries of home, commerce, housing and public works, railways, and shipping ministries, Road Transport and Highways Division, Bridges Division, the inspector general of police, the chief engineer of Roads and Highways Department, Local Government Division, the executive director of Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, a government nominated expert and one representative each from the transport owners' and workers' associations will be the members of the council.
The council, if necessary, will be able to coopt any new member.
The act mentions seven terms of actions for the council. They are: fixing policies in line with the target and purpose of the authority; fixing short, medium and long term plans for road safety; innovating strategies to ensure road safety and giving directives to the authorities concerned to implement those; giving advice to reduce road crashes, coordinating with ministries, divisions and agencies concerned; taking initiatives to bring discipline to the transport sector; identifying corrective measures to establish a people-friendly, time-and cost-effective public transport system and giving advice to implement those; and solving the issues raised by the government agencies.
Four of these activities are directly involved in road safety. The authorities, however, are struggling to ensure road safety.
Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri on Monday told The Daily Star, "Although we are taking actions, road crashes are not coming down. We are going to hold a meeting [with the divisional commissioners and deputy inspectors general of different ranges] to know why this is happening."
BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said the council could not meet for different reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic.
"It takes a long time to get the names of the nominated members. Besides, the date of the meeting was changed several times," he told The Daily Star yesterday.
Three forums -- National Road Safety Council, Cabinet Committee on Road Safety, and a taskforce -- are responsible for ensuring road safety, but they do not meet regularly.
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