The Prime Minister’s Office has instructed Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha also known as RAJUK to take action against multi-storey buildings and shopping malls that allocate parking space in their initial designs but later reduce their scale during construction.
The instruction was sent from a ‘high-level’ meeting on road safety led by Md Nojibur Rahman, the principal secretary to the prime minister, according to a statement issued on the agency’s Facebook page late on Sunday night.
“An instruction has been sent to RAJUK to take legal action against multi-storey buildings and shopping malls that have limited their parking zones or ignored the approved plans during construction after receiving building permits,” the statement said.
All relevant authorities have submitted action plans to the PMO on ensuring road safety, the statement said. Further steps are to be taken soon based on these action plans.
“Dhaka Metropolitan police have begun to implement their plans to enforce laws more strictly and to take legal action against traffic violations. The BRTA has formulated an action plan and has begun to implement it.”
Another meeting at the PMO has aimed at raising awareness of traffic laws among students and guardians in association with the Scouts and the Girl Guides Association.
It was decided at the meeting that leaflets on traffic laws, the causes of traffic accidents and the responsibilities of pedestrians, car drivers and motorcycle riders, passengers and transport owners will be distributed at all educational institutions through the Scouts and the Girl Guides Association.
It was also decided that guardians would also be asked to sign a compliance agreement with the instructions on the leaflets and submit them to these educational institutions.
Instructions were also issued to read the leaflet aloud before Jummah prayers, to circulate the information on the leaflet to teachers, to inform school students on traffic laws at assemblies, for local authorities to take steps to test the health of drivers and to discuss traffic laws during ‘mother’s programmes’ at school.
Officials from the PMO, the Ministry of Education, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and the Bangladesh Scouts attended the event, said a bdnews24 report.
Divisional officials from eight divisions and officials from the Scouts and the Girls Guide Association also took part in the meeting via video conference.