‘Spare us the shame of rundown buses’
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday urged transport leaders to save him and the country from embarrassment by fixing rundown buses.
"I want a solution from the [transport] leaders. Things cannot go on like this," Quader said at a preparatory meeting at BRTA headquarters ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Shajahan Khan, president of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation and presidium member of Awami League, alongside Mashiur Rahman Ranga, president of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, were present at the meeting.
He said journalists questioned him about the rundown buses when he went to inaugurate a ramp of Dhaka Elevated Expressway on Wednesday. They even questioned him why he could not bring changes even after leading the ministry for 12 years.
When journalists asked him about the rundown buses plying city streets on Wednesday, he said he saw no government negligence in the matter.
"Should I paint the vehicles?" he had asked in reply.
At yesterday's meeting, transport leaders tried to tell him rundown buses come from outside Dhaka. However, Quader said there are many workshops in the city where they paint such vehicles without fixing them.
"I have visited those and seen them painting such vehicles. But the paint comes off within 10 days, and the vehicles return to same condition," he said.
"Vehicles' conditions in the countryside are better than those in the city. It [poor condition of buses] mocks our development, achievement, and height," he said.
"I have told this many times to Shajahan bhai [who was seated beside him]. I have told this to leaders, but nothing happened. Will you save us from this embarrassment?"
"Rundown vehicles are being operated in the city in front of your eyes. This is a matter of embarrassment in a true sense. Don't you [transport leaders] feel embarrassed?" Quader said.
He said the country has come a long way, but condition of public vehicles is still poor. He requested transport leaders fix and paint those buses ahead of Eid.
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