The communications minister claims that no phony licences had been issued during the tenure of the present government and none would also be given in the future.
“Our drive against fake licences is underway. They are being confiscated and we`ll carry on the drive,” said Syed Abul Hossain Sunday after attending a meeting of the National Road Safety Council in Dhaka.
The minister also refuted allegations that some 24,000 licences were issued without proper screening. “It`s not true. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority did not give any kind of driving licence beyond rules and without necessary tests.”
Ruling-party MP Tarana Halim, who has joined a civil rights campaign in the wake of many a fatal accident, Saturday demanded a public announcement that unskilled drivers would get no licence.
She claimed 199,000 `unskilled` drivers had been given licences in the past 18 years.
The ruling party`s lawmaker from a reserved seat earlier had threatened to fast to her death if `unskilled` drivers were issued licences without proper tests.
Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan has been facing criticisms for recommending BRTA to issue licences to 24,000 drivers without going through proper procedure.
Shahjahan, also president of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, the forum of small transport groups, on Aug 29 said that he had sent the list to the authorities of drivers “who don`t have genuine licence but are driving efficiently for the last 10 to 15 years.”
He made a point that the country had a shortage of 0.135 million drivers and that he favoured no written test for driving licence.
The public rage over and call to end road-traffic accidents came to the fore when noted filmmaker Tareque Masud, ATN News CEO Ashfaque (Mishuk) Munier and three others died in a terrible road crash in Manikganj on August 13.
A total of 41 people, 39 of them schoolboys, were killed when a pickup truck fell into a muddy roadside canal at Mirsarai in Chittagong last month. The driver said after his arrest that he had been driving for about 20 years without papers.
The High Court on Aug 25 ordered the government to stop issuing licences without proper screening and legal compliance, until Oct 17, by which time BRTA is to submit the last five-year records.
The same day, the parliamentary standing committee on communications ministry suggested the government do not issue licences anymore `under pressure from anyone`.
Panel chief Sheikh Majibur Rahman blamed the previous BNP-led government for issuing licences to unskilled drivers.
“We`ve asked for checking whether the remaining licences were given to skilled drivers.”
The panel also suggested measures to make sure the shipping minister does not interfere in the matters of communications ministry.
Source : BRTA / Banglanews24
