One year ago, the country’s transport sector was one of the worst sufferers in the pre-election violence, businesspeople fear that things are heading very much that way.
Because of the ongoing countrywide blockade enforced by the BNP-led alliance, transportation costs have already doubled in many cases, just like how the skyrocketing started in December 2013 when similar political programmes were going on.
Alongside passenger buses, goods-laden trucks have often been targets of vandalism and arson attacks on the highway by political pickets.
The Dhaka-Chittagong highway is one of the busiest internal trade routes in Bangladesh. For carrying goods on the 465km route, a truck or a covered van, depending on their sizes, charges from Tk8,000 to Tk10,000.
Since the blockades began, many transport owners have refrained from sending their trucks on the long route. Others are charging from Tk14,000 to Tk20,000 for a single trip as of yesterday.
When pre-election political unrest was nearing its peak in the first week of December 2013, the hike began in the exact same way: rising to Tk20,000 per trip on the highway.
By the last week of that month, transport owners were charging up to as much as Tk1-1.25 lakh which was more than 12 times the regular cost.
The government has arranged special security for highway vehicles on the Dhaka-Chittagong route considering its importance in trade, allowing some vehicles to ply the route.
Not every part of the country is as fortunate as the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. The northern districts have been the most troublesome and the highways in that region have been vulnerable to vandalism and arson attacks.
The northern district of Naogaon is one the biggest rice-supply hubs in the country. When there is peace, around 100 rice-laden trucks come to the capital on an average every day. However, over the last five days, not a single truck has left the district for Dhaka.
“We are having to suffer from Tk30-40 crore loss every day because we have not been able to send the rice to Dhaka. Nobody is ready to bring their trucks on the highway,” said Nirod Baran Saha, president of the local rice traders’ association in Naogaon.
“Not the entire Naogaon-Dhaka highway is risky. Only some parts in Sirajganj and Bogra districts are troublesome. The portion leading from the Jamuna bridge to Dhaka is good. Over the last six days, we have been requesting the government to deploy BGB members in those areas. But our call has remain unheeded,” he told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.
“Even the Dhaka-Chittagong highway has not been fully free of violence. Two trucks carrying readymade garment products were torched in Narayanganj and Sitakunda on Friday, although there were police escorts,” said Rustom Ali, general secretary of the Covered Van and Truck Owners’ Association.
“These and fear of facing more such incidents have led the truck owners to raise the bill for carrying goods. If the blockade continues for a month, the cost may go up to Tk1 lakh,” he said.
Manjur Ahmed, an adviser to the country’s apex trade body FBCCI, told the Dhaka Tribune that police escort will not be able to tame things during blockades. “If anyone thinks this model [police escort] will work during blockade, then he or she is nothing but a fool.”
“We have no other option but to pay the additional bill of carrying goods to ensure timely shipments abroad,” he said.
Contacted, State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We will definitely take strong measures to ensure security for buses and trucks carrying goods from the northern districts to Dhaka.” However, he did not elaborate the kind of measures he was talking about.
On an average, 2,500-3,000 trucks enter Dhaka every day; over the last six days, on an average around 300-400 trucks have entered the city.
Compensation problem
According to Rustom Ali, a truck, depending on its capacity, costs between Tk20 lakh and Tk40 lakh.
If the engine remains unhurt when a truck is torched or vandalised, the truck can be made operational again by spending around Tk20 lakh. But if the engine is damaged, repairing costs go up to as much as Tk40 lakh.
Rustom said 40 of his trucks were damaged during the pre-election political violence a year ago, but the government had compensated for only 12 of those. “That too not more than Tk2.5 lakh for each truck.”
He also said insurance companies refuse to pay if a truck gets damaged in political violence.
This year too, the government has assured truck owners that it would pay compensation in case their vehicles got damaged in political violence.
Rustom said they got the assurance from State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal during a meeting; there is also directive from the Prime Minister’s Office in this regard.
As of yesterday, at least 200 trucks have been vandalised and torched on different highways around the country.
During the pre-election violence in 2013, more than 1,000 trucks were damaged beyond repair and 4,000 were partially damaged.
Fertiliser supply
The blockade and the resulting transportation crunch are also likely to hit the fertiliser supply chain hard.
Growers of Irri and Boro – two of the major paddy breeds in the country – will be needing a lot of fertilisers in the coming months.
“Cultivation of Irri and Boro may face a serious setback if the blockade continues for a month,” Bangladesh Fertiliser Association Chairman Kamrul Ashraf Khan Poton told the Dhaka Tribune.
“Dealers have enough stock of fertiliser. We had plans to distribute these fertilisers around the country over the next three weeks,” he said.
Prices of the key inputs such as seeds and fertilisers have already shot up significantly in many areas since the blockade started, farmers said.