Action against officials concerned if unfit vehicles cause accidents

Govt seal

Dhaka, January 11: Legal action will be taken against officials concerned if unfit vehicles cause accidents, said Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan, Advisor for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; Road Transport and Bridges and Railways.

The advisor made these comments while exchanging views with journalists after a discussion meeting with BRTA officials and employees and a road safety discussion meeting organized by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) at the BRTA headquarters in Dhaka today.

Fauzul Kabir Khan said that the government is working to prevent unbearable traffic jams, uncontrolled road accidents and restore peace among the people of the country. He called on BRTA to become an efficient and service-oriented institution to restore order and safety on the roads and directed to make BRTA's service delivery processes easier and more people-friendly.

Stating that BRTA should take primary responsibility for the increase in road accidents, the road advisor said that the common people are annoyed with BRTA and asked BRTA to work as a public servant to overcome this situation. During this time, the advisor listened to the statements of BRTA officials and employees coming from different districts and gave necessary instructions to the concerned authorities to take action to solve various problems related to their service provision.

The road accident should be considered a crime from now on. The road safety advisor also said that we all have to take responsibility for deaths on the road. Human life is priceless, so we all have to make every effort to restore safety and order on the roads; besides, compensation should be ensured through the Board of Trustees for the victims of road accidents.

Special Assistant to the Principal Advisor (Defense and National Integration Development Affairs) Lieutenant General (Retd.) Abdul Hafiz, Special Assistant to the Principal Advisor (Home Ministry) Md. Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, Senior Secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Department Md. Ehsanul Haque and Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Baharul Alam were present as special guests in the meeting. In addition, senior officials of government and private organizations, representatives of civil society, representatives of students and the public, representatives of transport owners' associations and labor organizations, as well as journalists from print and electronic media were present in the meeting. – PID Handout