Shajahan-led panel yet to file recommendations

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Shahed Shafiq
Published : 02:00, Mar 21, 2019 | Updated : 02:00, Mar 21, 2019

Students shout slogans as they block a road to demand road safety after a student died in a road accident in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 20, 2019. REUTERSThe high-level panel on road safety formed by the government has come up with a set of recommendations but failed to meet the deadline to submit it.

In a bid to bring back order to roads, Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader, on Feb 17, announced the formation of a committee, with transport workers’ leader and former shipping minister Shajahan Khan as its chief.

Quader then told the media that the panel would submit a report within 14 work days.

But more than a month later, the panel, which drew widespread criticism for including people involved with transport organizations, is yet to file its report.

Former film actor Ilias Kanchan, who heads the road safety campaign ‘Nirapod Sarak Chai’, sits on the committee.

Speaking to Bangla Tribune on Wednesday (Mar 20), he said, “We have had quite a few meetings, when the members came up with several recommendations. The committee’s report is at its final stage.”

Students shout slogans as they block a road to demand road safety after a student died in a road accident in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 20, 2019. REUTERSHe, however, said there has been some confusion within the panel over filing the report.

“The minister [Obaidul Quader] is being treated abroad. We can submit it to the [road transport] secretary. A meeting is scheduled for Thursday, when we will decide on it,” said Kanchan.

The panel has come up with around 100 recommendations, he said.

“We are satisfied as our opinions have been highlighted,” said Kanchan, who was honoured with the Ekushey Award las tear for his contributions to social welfare.

The actor had been waging the campaign demanding safe roads since 1993 when his wife died in a road crash.

He, however, said that it was job of the government agencies to implement the recommendations.

Writer and columnist Syed Abul Maksud, who sits on the panel, however, says they should wait for the road transport minister.

“My personal view is, let the minister return after getting treated,” he told Bangla Tribune on Wednesday.

Another member of the panel, Khandaker Enayet Ullah, the general secretary of Transport Owners’ Association, said that their report was at its ‘final stages’.

“We held a lot of meeting. The report is almost final but the chief of the panel can tell the detail,” is what he told Bangla Tribune when reached for a comment.

Experts, however, have doubts over any effective solution to the runaway transport sector and chaos on roads through the new panel.

Such panels have been formed in the past, made recommendations which were not implemented, according to them.

“The committee was given 14 days … Let’s see what they have come up with,” said Md Hanif Khokon, joint secretary of the ruling Awami League-backed Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ League.

Rights activist Mozammel Haque Chowdhury echoed.

“We have seen such committees, whose recommends were not implemented. Actually, the recommendations made are overlooked,” he told Bangla Tribune.

Chowdhury, the secretary general to rights body ‘Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samiti’, said that “probe panels and recommendations were nothing but an effort to cover up the accidents”.

Despite several attempts, the panel’s chief Shajahan Khan could not be reached for a comment.

Former shipping minister and transport workers’ leader Shajahan, whose remarks and actions on road safety sparked widespread criticism in the past, leads the 15-member committee.

Following the formation of the committee, experts questioned the government’s decision to include people involved with transport organizations in the high-level panel.

A ruling MP and Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation Executive President, Shajahan has Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association President Mashiur Rahman Ranga in the committee as a member.

The body Shajahan leads is the umbrella for over 200 transport unions across the country, representing more than 6 million workers.

Four other members of the panel are also involved in the transport sector — Transport Workers’ Federation General Secretary Osman Ali, Owners’ Association General Secretary Khandaker Enayet Ullah and two representatives from the bodies of truck owners and workers.      

/zmi/up-hm/
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