In light of the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, the leaseholders of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and District Council (Zila Parishad) have been collecting additional tolls violating the terms of an agreement from more than 400 ghat points of launch terminals and river ports, including Sadarghat river port, across the country.
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS) Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury raised the allegation in a statement yesterday.
He also alleged that besides creating anarchy in collecting additional tolls, leaseholders are also harassing the passengers.
He demanded that immediate steps be taken to stop the collection of such extra tolls.
In the statement, Mozammel said the extra toll was being levied on passengers going up and down for crossing the river by boat at Sadarghat. If someone is crossing the river by boat carrying daily essentials, the leaseholders employed by BIWTA are illegally extorting them from Tk20 to up to Tk100. However, there is an agreement to collect the fare per passenger crossing the boat.
This “looting trade” is seen not only in Sadarghat but also in more than 400 river ports and ghats leased by BIWTA across the country. Besides, such looting is going on at ghats and boat ghat points owned by the district councils in remote areas of different districts of the country, he alleged.
Although Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina repeatedly gave instructions to stop the harassment of passengers on the waterways, neither the Shipping Ministry nor the BIWTA has taken any effective steps to stop the anarchy. Passengers are being harassed if they protest against such extra toll collection, said Mozammel.
As a result of the leaseholders giving responsibility to the unruly youths of the area for collecting tolls at these ghats, many passengers have to cross rivers by paying extra and illegal tolls as per their demand. The helpless passengers are seen expressing their anger against the government in various ways.
Mozammel demanded that the Shipping Ministry, Department of Consumer Protection, and Department of Maritime Transport take necessary steps to stop this illegal practice and bring the situation under control.
