Public transport dev caught in corruption, criminality
Roundtable told
Corruption and criminality in the transport sector are the main barriers to development of the public transport system in Bangladesh, said discussants at a roundtable yesterday.
The government should establish a special cell or taskforce to curb corruption and emphasise strengthening state-run transport operating bodies to overcome public transport crisis, they viewed.
Bangladesh Passengers Welfare Association organised the roundtable titled "Public Transport Crisis: Way Forward to End Passengers' Sufferings" at Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
Eminent columnist Syed Abul Maksud said a high-powered special cell of the government is needed to end the chaotic situation in the transport sector.
The cell will intensively monitor the overall situation, chalk out plans and place proposals to the ministry for entire development of transport sector.
The state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) have failed to serve the people due to negligence of the authorities concerned, he viewed.
Noted media personality Muhammad Jahangir alleged that all governments since the 1990s have overlooked the issue of improving public transport system leaving the sector in a shabby state.
Urban transport expert Salehuddin Ahmed, also a former director of BRTC, said road space and communication infrastructure must be increased to improve mass traffic system.
Nagorik Sanghati General Secretary Sharifuzzaman Sharif demanded that the government take steps to operate BRTC buses in all the districts in the country.
Presenting a paper in the roundtable, Mozammel Hoque, the welfare association's secretary general, said around 44 bus companies have been shut in the last seven years, while around 150 private cars hit the streets daily.
In the 1990s, there were around 11,000 buses in Dhaka, while around 70 lakh people lived in the city. Currently, around 1.5 crore people live in the capital, but the number of buses has come down to around 4,000, said Mozammel. He also claimed that around 90 percent of public transport, including buses, minibuses, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, and cabs, are unfit. Besides, around 50 percent drivers operate public vehicles with fake licences.