HIGHWAY BAN ON CNG AUTORICKSHAWS
Operators slam govt
Leaders of a platform of CNG-run auto-rickshaw owners and drivers yesterday slammed the government for its hurried decision on banning the three-wheelers on highways and said the government should come up with some alternatives for them.
The call came at a media briefing of Bangladesh Auto-Rickshaw Auto-Tempo Sangram Parishad at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) in the capital.
Speakers at the briefing said accidents are very common on highways and that the ban, if imposed only for avoiding road fatalities, would be imprudent.
The auto-rickshaws should not be blamed solely as many accidents occur because of reckless driving of buses and trucks, they claimed. They also alleged that the ban was imposed without consulting the leaders of the transport workers and owners association.
The government has exported the three-wheelers, it approved those on the roads and while poor people have been earning their bread running those vehicles, the authorities are set to ban those without thinking about the fate of the people who are driving those, said Golam Faruk, convener of Bangladesh Auto-Rickshaw Auto-Tempo Sangram Parishad.
CNG-run auto rickshaws paired up with lives of the villagers in many parts of the country. The ban will surely be a barrier to the villagers easy movement if the vehicles are confiscated from the roads, said Mozammel Haque, secretary-general of Passengers Welfare Association.
Meanwhile, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said the government is strict on continuing the ban on CNG-run auto-rickshaws on highways.
