Kushtia bus strike withdrawn as road repair starts today

Buses in all routes here went off the streets since 6:00am yesterday as bus owners called an indefinite strike demanding immediate repair of several dilapidated roads and highways.
The strike disrupted transport services between southwestern and northern regions. A large number of passenger buses remained stranded on the highways from the morning as the transport workers resisted their movement blocking roads.
Shihab Uddin, president of Kushtia bus owners' group, said they enforced the strike between the district and other parts of the country including capital Dhaka.
Transports plying 18 routes inside Kushtia also suspended their services causing untold sufferings to the local people.
The bus owners' group has been demanding repair of highways since July this year.
According to Shihab Uddin, they want urgent repair of Kushtia-Pabna, Kushtia-Meherpur, Kushtia-Ishwardi and Kushtia-Jhenidah roads.
He said, they gave ultimatums to Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) several times for starting repair work.
They also called strike four times. A four-day strike was observed from August 26-30, but it all went unheeded, he added.
Lately, the bus owners called another strike on October 1. However, it was called off at the request of Shipping Minister Sahajahan Khan who was present in Kushtia during the period.
“We had no alternative as the authorities concerned did not start repair work despite promises,” Sihab Uddin said.
Hasibur Rahman, executive engineer of Roads and Highway told this correspondent that they night start the repair work unofficially from today (Wednesday).
“Tender on work for road repair has already been floated and the process will be completed soon,” Hasibur said.
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At a tripartite meeting at around 8:00pm yesterday, the bus owners agreed to resume services on assurance by the authories that the repair of roads by the Roads and Highways department will start today.