Transport owners in the country are demanding compensation from the government, claiming they incurred a loss of around TK 130 crore when violence surrounding the political deadlock erupted prior to the January 5 general elections.
At a meeting of Bangladesh Road Transport Advisory Council on Sunday, transport leaders raised a 15-point demand, including compensation for the loss the sector had experienced. The meeting was held at the secretariat.
“The country’s political situation changed following the polls but the transport owners who had incurred losses are yet to recover,” said Bangladesh Road Transport Association’s Secretary-General Khandaker Enayet Ullah.
At present, there are around 180,000 trucks and over 200,000 buses in the country. The truck owners alone are suffering a loss of TK 90 crore a day on their net income, excluding expenses, speakers told the meeting.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Enayet Ullah said the recovery would really be hard for the transport owners. “Now that the new government has assumed power, it should extend its assistance to the owners in order to help them recover from the losses. That’s why we placed the 15-point demand.”
Communications Minister Obaidul Quader, also chief of the Road Transport Advisory Council, told the Dhaka Tribune he was yet to go through the demands submitted by the transport leaders.
“The government is concerned about the damage made to the sector. We will consider the demands they have placed,” the minister observed.
The 15-point demand includes ensuring all facilities for this sector in line with an industry (as was announced by the government), ensuring bank loans and fixing the interest rates at 7%, a plea not to hike the taxes in the next budget and withdrawal of vat imposed on commercial transports that now stands at 15%, cancelling the decision to fix the expiry date of CNG-driven auto rickshaws and diesel-run vehicles at 15 and 20 years respectively, imposing ban on movement of light vehicles on highways, and raising transport fares.
