Under fire in parliament for the current chaos in the transport sector, Highways and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said he has to adjust as a minister while discharging his duties.
“I want to tell you one thing very clearly, there’re so many problems. You’ll have to face so many things when you'll be there in the [hot] seat. While discharging my duties as a minister, I need to adjust to so many issues,” he said.
The minister said this while facing blistering attacks by opposition MPs over an anarchic situation and recent fatal accidents on roads.
He, however, admitted that restoring discipline in the transport sector is a must for the country. “We talk too much. But we don’t work that much compared to what we say. We don’t implement the job what we believe in, and what we implement, we don’t believe in that.”
Earlier participating in the discussion during the passage of the “Highway Bill-2021,” several MPs of BNP and Jatiya Party came down heavily on the minister and the government for the sorry state of the roads and the transport sector.
They also criticized the minister for reducing the severity of punishment and financial penalty in the Road, Transport Bill-2018 due to pressure from the transport owners and workers.
In the face of the strong criticism by the MPs over the fatal road accidents, the minister said it is not only reckless driving or the drivers who are responsible for the road crashes -- reckless crossing of roads by pedestrians are also responsible for such tragic incidents.
He said VIPs are also responsible for mismanagement and disorder on the roads as they are unwilling to follow traffic rules.
Participating in the discussion, Jatiya Party MP Mujibul Haque Chunnu said what is the government doing? “Two people were killed in two days. How a driver of the city corporation can hire another person to drive a vehicle,” he blasted.
Pointing to his party’s MP Mashiur Rahman Ranga, sitting next to him, Chunnu said, "The president of the Road Transport Owners Association is sitting next to me. The president is from the Jatiya Party and the general secretary is from the Awami League. The president of the transport workers' organization is from the Awami League and the secretary from the Communist Party. I’m afraid of them thinking about the consequences.”
BNP MP Harunur Rashid said students had taken to the streets demanding road safety and half fare from them. “But the ruling party cadres swooped on them with sticks and rods. I want to know what action has been taken against those who carried out the attacks.”
BNP MP Rumeen Farhana said the government has reduced the severity of punishment by amending the Road, Transport Bill-2018 under the pressure of transport owners and workers.
She demanded the government enact a law to introduce half fare for students in all modes of public transport across the country.
Rumeen said the government’s claim that they do not have the power to fix the fares of private transport is not correct. “If the government formulates a law for a business, the businesspeople have to do the business by obeying it.”
In response to the criticisms, Quader said, “I would like to tell you all that the law (Road Safety Bill) has not relaxed or relaxed the punishment in any way. No punishment has been eased. The rigidity of the law and the spirit of the law remain the same as in the original one. And that will remain so.”
The minister said the Road Transport Law to be amended only to make it a time-fitting one in line with the ones in neighboring countries.
On the half-fare facility for students, Quader said the government has already prepared a gazette to provide it in BRTC-operated buses across the country which will come into effect on December 1.
In response to the allegation of attacks on students by the BCL men, this is not true as they themselves are in favour of this demand.
“Someone else in the name of BCL might have carried out the attacks,” said asking the opposition MPs to identify the BCL men, if any.
