Road Safety, Our Right

If the 11-point demand for safe roads and half fare for public transport is not met by December, tougher programmes will be announced from the first day of January, warned participants of the ongoing road safety movement.

The announcement was made yesterday afternoon at a rally of students, teachers, guardians and workers near the capital's Rampura Bridge.

Shohagi Samia, a student of Khilgaon Model College and representative of the demonstrators, said, "We want to make it clear that this movement is not just about students, but people from all walks of life."

Speaking as a teachers' representative, Prof Anu Muhammad of Jahangirnagar University said the government needs to play a more pro-active role in making the roads safer.

He also said while it's great that the government has given instructions regarding the demand for half-fare in public transports, it needs to follow through on the promise and ensure implementation.

Taking part in the rally, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of Jatri Kalyan Samity, said bus fares for students in Dhaka and Chattogram have already been halved.

But as long as a gazette notification is not issued, transport workers and owners will become more reckless again.