ALTHOUGH a lot is being done by the present government, many things are yet to be done in the communication sector. We need to improve our communication and add speed to it. But it is sad to observe that it still takes 6/7 hours to travel from Dhaka to Chittagong and vice versa. This is really slowing down the economic activities of our country. The distance from Dhaka to Chittagong is only 250 kilometres and it should not take more than 3 hours if a vehicle runs at 100 kilometres per hour. The costs of making roads and flyovers are much higher than normal due to corruption and we must reduce corruption in this sector. When the world is moving on 120/140 kilometres per hour speed we are averaging 40/50 kilometres per hour which is very slow.
Bangladesh has immense potential to become a strong economy in the South-East Asia, as we are surrounded by India and Myanmar. Even China and Thailand are also not very far away. Bangladesh can become a hub of business activities like Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore. With continued economic growth and development, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is beginning to feel the necessity of improved road communication. Many government and public transport agencies drafted policies, undertook projects and implemented programmes to solve these problems, but there is still a lot to be done. A concerted effort by government and non-government organisations is required to solve the problems of road transport in the country.
Saiful Islam
Baridhara DOHS, Dhaka
