Stop plying unfit vehicles on roads: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked the authorities concerned to stop plying unfit vehicles and their unhealthily race on the roads to avert road accidents.

“Plying of unfit vehicles and their unhealthy race on the roads must be stopped… stern actions will have to be taken if anybody unnecessarily increases the size or other things of the trucks and buses,” she said.

“The mentality of earning some money by fixing the vehicles somehow will have to be discarded,” she added.

The prime minister issued the directives while addressing a programme marking the National Road Safety Day-2019 at Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB) Auditorium at Farmgate area in the capital.

The Road Transport and Highways Division organised the function on Tuesday, reports agencies.

Sheikh Hasina also said that ensuring road safety is not the responsibility of the government or drivers alone as all will have to come up to deal with it.

She said, "Ensuring a safe road system is not only the responsibility of the government or the drives, it’s the responsibility of all--from pedestrians to all other citizens. All have to discharge their own duties."

This year’s theme of the day is ‘Jiboner Age Jibika Noy, Sarak Durghatana Ar Noy’ (Livelihood not ahead of life, no more road accident).

The prime minister asked all, especially the educated people, to obey traffic rules. "This is very much important."

She said the awareness of pedestrians as well as that of drivers is very much important. "Our footpaths are always occupied… these have to be freed (from illegal occupants)."

Turning to illegal and indiscriminate car parking on roads, she said many shopping malls while taking approval from the authorities concerned show car-parking spaces in their designs, but they later sell those as shops.

"As a result, people have to park their cars in front of shopping malls and occupy roads," she said.

Sheikh Hasina asked the traffic officials to be harsh against illegal car parking on roads and impose fine. "There should be parking spaces while the footpaths have to be freed for pedestrians."

She asked the authorities concerned to stop plying of unfit vehicles on roads. "They somehow make the vehicles fit to run and earn money…this type of attitude has to be changed."

The prime minister also put emphasis on preventing bad competition on roads and uncontrolled speed of vehicles to end accidents.

Hasina asked the authorities concerned to take immediate and appropriate stern actions if anyone alters the size of trucks or other vehicles to carry extra goods or passengers.  

Road Transport and Highways Division Minister Obaidul Quader, Parliamentary Standing Committee member on Road Transport and Bridges Ministry Ekabbar Hossain, MP, Chairman of Nirapad Sarak Chai Ilias Kanchan, Executive President of Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation Shahjahan Khan, MP Secretary General of Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity Khandaker Enayet Ullah and Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary M Nazrul Islam also spoke on the occasion.