Confusion reigns supreme over transport-run capacities as the government allows half the country's transports to operate to full capacity when Bangladesh begins reopening tomorrow (Aug 11) from covid lockdowns.
Operators and users of the mass-transport services appeared caught in a quandary over the government's latest decision, while media talkers also got stuff for dissection of the decision.
Terming the decision improper, they think it will not only create a crisis of public transports but also enhance the risk of infections as it would force the passengers to travel on packed vehicles.
In view of the possible risk, they called upon the government to bring some changes in the decision and allow all the public transports to resume keeping half of the capacity empty like on the previous occasion.
The cabinet division made Sunday was followed by the issuance of a notification relaxing the virus curbs. It was mentioned in the notification that public transports in roads, railways and rivers will be allowed to resume their services carrying passengers equal to their capacity.
In case of road transport, the transport owners will have to operate half of their total vehicles a day in consultation with local administrations, law-enforcement agencies, as well as transport owners and workers' associations in their jurisdictions, according to the direction on do's and don'ts.
Bus owner Mohammad Shahin, who operates the transport on Mirpur- to-Motijheel route, expressed his dissatisfaction over the decision.
"I don't know what the government wants to achieve. We struggled a lot in taking the pressure of passengers when we used half of the capacity of all buses," he said.
Allowing half of the transports will worsen the situation further, and it will certainly cause overcrowding inside the buses, which would spread the virus, he said.
Secretary-general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association Khandoker Enayet Ullah said they had already instructed the transport operators to run buses to full capacity in line with the government order.
But the notification stated that half of the transports will be allowed to operate. "There are owners who have only one bus. So, it will be very tough to maintain it. Simultaneously, the decision will leave half of the transport workers jobless. The decision needs to be changed for the survival of the sector," he said.
After the cabinet meeting, cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam received a barrage of questions about the matter from the media on Monday.
In response, Mr Islam said the decision was taken to prevent influx of a good number of buses at a time in Dhaka and Chattogram.
"Local administration will look into the matter in consultation with the operators and others," he added.
Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader said the authorities should have talked with the ministry concerned and BRTA (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority) before taking such a critical decision.
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