A committee for ensuring safe roads to curb road fatalities in Sylhet is yet to see light, although the Road Communication and Bridges Ministry issued a circular in this connection 12 years ago.
On March 9, 2003, the then Communication Ministry issued a circular to establish a committee for ensuring road safety in the city. This correspondent collected the circular from BRAC Road Safety Programme, a project working for checking road accidents countrywide.
In the circular, the ministry urged the authorities concerned to constitute two committees at the district and city levels with Sylhet Deputy Commissioner and Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner as chairs respectively and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) officials as member secretaries.
Members of Regional Transport Committee, Upazila Road Safety Committee president, District and Metro level information officers, civil surgeon, executive engineers of Roads and Highways Department, four representatives from different educational institutions and a representative from Nirapod Sarak Chai movement will be other members of the committee, said the circular.
Under the committees, National Road Safety Committee will demarcate important roads, create awareness among people, prepare reports on state of driving license, vehicle registration and implement traffic rules. Committee meetings will be held every three months, the circular directed.
However, the commissioners said they were not aware of the circular.
Deputy Commissioner Md Shahidul Islam said he was holding meetings with the District Development Coordination Committee in this regard.
SMP Commissioner Kamrul Ahsan said: “Police is working for ensuring road safety. I am not informed about any road safety committee.”
Abdul Momen, deputy director of BRTA Sylhet office, said: “Committees at the upazila level have been formed, however, committees at the district and metro levels were not formed yet.”
He admitted of receiving the circular.
Parvez Koiri, social communicator of BRAC Road Safety Programme, said: “We are relentlessly working for safe roads. If the Road Safety Committee is formed in Sylhet, it would be easier for us to work. We have been pressurising the authorities concerned to from it since long. Recently they assured us that the committees will be formed soon.”
