It is not the hospital doctors or staff, it is now the ambulance service providers who have held hostage the patients to press home their demand at Chittagong Medical College and Hospital for four days until yesterday.
That dearly price too stems from not their fault but from the dispute between police and ambulance-owners and drivers.
The patients as well as their attendant relatives have been suffering severely for lack of any ambulance service for four days at the hospitals, particularly CMCH, since Wednesday.
The CMCH-based Private Ambulance Owners-Workers Association went on strike after police seized three ambulances and filed two cases against two drivers on charges of illegally parking the vehicles in front of Popular Diagnostic Centre near the hospital on Wednesday.
Since the strike, the patients had to be taken to and from the hospital either by CNG-run auto-rickshaw or other vehicles, of which drivers are alleged to be taking advantage of this helpless situation.
Shockingly, the ambulance drivers were not showing any soft corner even on the relatives of the deceased patients as they were refusing to carry the dead even from the hospital.
According to Chittagong Metropolitan Police Law, whoever leaves or parks any vehicle in any part of a street or public place where parking is prohibited by the police commissioner shall be punishable.
Police advised the ambulance owners and drivers to park their vehicles under their own management not at any illegal spot while the drivers and owners demanded their vehicles be allowed parking on the road in front of the medical area.
Chittagong Halka Mortorjan Ambulance Malik-Sramik Committee’s Joint Secretary Anwar Hosssian told the Dhaka Tribune that the authority had suddenly come up with such a decision not to allow them in front of the medical area and so they had to go on such a strike.
“We have a permission to park 10-15 ambulances at the east gate of CMCH on emergency,” he said, adding that they would hold a press conference and submit a memorandum about this if their demands were not met.
Joint Secretary Anwar said, as well as the ambulances that used to be parked near the CMCH, owners and workers of around 120 other ambulances had put off their vehicles off the service expressing solidarity with them in the city.
Officer-in-charge (OC) Mohiuddin Mahmud of Panchlaish police station said there was no permission from them to park any vehicle, including ambulance, at the residential area and so there is no way to make any sacrifice for them.
Around 400 patients come to the hospital on average everyday from 14 upazilas, three hill districts of Chittagong, Feni, Noakhali and Cox’s Bazar district.