Despite repeated government assurance of ensuring security on the highways, transport owners are still reluctant to resume their services out of fear of being attacked by blockade-enforcing pickets on the road.
Although losses are piling up for the transport owners, they still calculate that any arson attack or vandalism of their buses or trucks would inflict much greater financial damage.
Dhaka Bus-Truck Owners’ Association President Faruk Talukder Sohel told the Dhaka Tribune: “The government pressured us to keep long-haul buses running and offered to compensate us for losses and to provide security for our buses.
“But thousands of kilometres of highway cannot possibly be secured and experience shows that if we lose Tk70 lakh, the government will compensate us no more than Tk7 lakh.”
Even if the Highway Police escorted the transports, pickets were still carrying out sudden attacks on the road, claimed Sohel – who also owns Shohag Paribahan.
However, Additional Secretary of the Home Ministry Kamal Uddin Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that the government was emphasising on using the Highway Police to ensure security to goods-carrying vehicles for export-import of grain products during the BNP-led 20-party enforced countrywide blockade.
“We have not deployed the BGB for highway security, but the nearest police stations have been alerted,” he claimed.
However, at a press conference in Chittagong yesterday, the Border Guard Bangladesh South-East Regional Commander Brig Gen Habibul Karim said they would stay on roads and highways until the violence is stopped.
He added that additional personnel would be stationed on highways from Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar district to Feni district, while the number of BGB patrol teams would be increased on key roads including Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong-Rangamati highways, reports our correspondents in the port city.
“We, however, started providing escort to long-distance and goods-laden vehicles in our areas since January 7, but now we will be on the roads and highways in full phase to protect our people and their properties,” Brig Gen Karim said.
State Minister of Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has already held several meetings with long-haul bus service operators and offered them adequate security to restore regular services on long distance routes. He also promised them compensation if the buses were to come under attack by pickets.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and State Minister for LGRD Moshiur Rahman Ranga – both of them transport union leaders – also tried to persuade bus owners, even reportedly threatening to padlock bus counters if they refused to operate long-haul services.
But transport leaders insisted that the government assurance was not enough, as longer journeys during blockade meant increased chance of falling victims to arson or vandalism.
Kafil Uddin, secretary of the Dhaka Bus-Truck Owners’ Association and also the managing director of Hanif Paribahan, claimed that even though only a few buses were operated by them, most of those vehicles were attacked by pickets.
Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van Malik Samity Secretary Rostam Ali khan told the Dhaka Tribune that out of the 127,000 trucks and covered vans in the country, only 30% were currently operating during the blockade; the figure stays around 80% during normal times, he added.
As a result, the financial losses for both businesspeople and the consumers are piling up.
“We have to incur losses worth around Tk200 crore a day because of hartals or blockades enforced by any political party,” said Khondoker Anayetullah, secretary of Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association.
According to a study by the association, a single transport owner has to incur an average daily loss of Tk8,000 to Tk10,000 because of hartals or blockades.
Over the last year, around 800 buses were damaged by pickets; the Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association had to pay Tk1.50 crore as compensation while the government also paid Tk1.65 crore more to the family members of the drivers who fell victim to the violence.
“In terms of losses, the amount of money is too little for the family members,” said Anayetullah.
Meanwhile, although a handful of buses crammed overwhelming numbers of passengers before leaving the capital’s bus terminals over the past two days, the luxury buses on long distance routes stayed out of the streets, with owners claiming that they cannot find enough passengers to run their services properly.
Industry insiders, however, said the luxury buses – which cost between Tk70 lakh and Tk1.75 crore each – did not leave the terminals out of fear of pickets’ attacks.
Even BRTC Director Colonel Abdullahel Karim told the Dhaka Tribune: “Two [BRTC] AC buses have been burned already, so we have stopped operating AC buses.”
Sources said seven luxury buses of Green Line Paribahan left Chittagong for Dhaka on Monday, but were attacked by pickets near Mirsharai upazila.
According to estimates by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, at least two transport workers have died so far in blockade-related violence, while around 60 vehicles have been torched and 200 others vandalised during the last week.