DT e-Paper Saturday 19 August 2017

2
SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 2017
DT
News
Transport system in the hand
of unlicensed drivers
• Nawaz Farhin
SPECIAL
It was a fine sunny morning on Monday
when 15-year old Nannu Miah
was found driving a three-wheeler
on the Farmgate-Jigatala route, one
of the busiest roads in Dhaka.
Like many other boys of his age,
he was supposed to be at school at
the time, but the opportunity never
knocked at his door as the untimely
demise of the child’s father
forced him to take up driving two
years ago to make ends meet.
“Initially, I worked as a conductor
but as I expressed my interest
to my ustad (master), he taught me
how to drive a vehicle,” Nannu told
the Dhaka Tribune. “Driving is now
my only profession.”
When asked if he had any licence,
the boy let out a loud burst
of laughter: “I am too young to take
a test for a licence. I do not need a
licence as the police never stop us
and ask to see it.”
“Our seniors who drive on the
same route know how to convince
cops and get us released when they
nab us for driving vehicles without
a licence,” he said.
Nannu said there is no need
for him to obtain a licence as he
claimed to be a more able driver
than many others of the profession
- despite facing five accidents in
the last two years.
Although it is illegal, many children
like 15-year old Nannu Miah steer such
vehicles amid a dearth of licensed
drivers. BRTA data reveal that there
are around 3.42m registered vehicles
in the country, but only 1.7m people
have driving licence
Authorised vehicles, unauthorised
drivers
Nannu is not the only one who
lacks a driving permit. Currently,
over one third of the country’s registered
vehicles are being operated
by unlicensed drivers.
According to the latest data of
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority
( BRTA), there are around 3.42m
registered vehicles in the country
but only 1.7m licence holders.
In addition to the registered vehicles,
the Bangladesh Passenger
Welfare Association (BPWA) Secretary
General Mozammel Haque
Chowdhury claims there are also
around 1.5m illegal vehicles.
This means there could be over
3 million legal and illegal vehicles
being driven by unqualified drivers
who are not only risking themselves,
but putting a large number
of people in peril.
What are the consequences?
Sources at the BRTA and Ministry
of Road Transport and Bridges
said the country saw 71,934 traffic
accidents from 1998 to 2014.
A recent study by Accident Research
Institute (ARI) at Bangladesh
University of Engineering and Technology
(Buet) revealed that road
accidents claim the lives of 12,000
people on an average annually and
leave a further 35,000 injured.
Jamir Hossain, a bus driver sentenced
to life imprisonment in a
case filed over the deaths of internationally-acclaimed
filmmaker
Tareque Masud, journalist and cinematographer
Mishuk Munier and
three others in a fatal traffic accident
in 2011, was reported to have
been unlicensed.
Allegations against BRTA
The BRTA issues two types of licence:
professional and non-professional,
and there are three categories
of vehicles under the professional licence:
heavy, medium and light.
However, a Dhaka Tribune inquiry
found there are only 142
BRTA-approved trainers across the
country and under 100 registered
training centres, while every day
NUMBER OF REGISTERED
VEHICLES
Year
Number
2013 137,109
2014 160,639
2015 321,215
2016 416,410
2017 (as of May) 163,145
hundreds of people are applying
for receiving training and licences.
On top of this, most of the instructors
do not properly perform
their duties, according to Kazi Md
Shifun Newaz, an assistant professor
at Buet’s ARI.
“BRTA has no control over the
training centres. Consequently,
there is a lack of surveillance on
important issues of the transport
KEY FACTS
3.42m vehicles registered
with BRTA
Only 1.7m valid licence
holders
As many as 3m legal and
illegal vehicles in the hand
of unlicensed drivers
Unauthorised drivers learn
driving from their ustads
80% of drivers do not have
appropriate licence
Road accidents claim
12,000 lives, injure 35,000
annually
71,934 road deaths
reported from 1998-2014
sector. The absence of sincerity in
ensuring passengers’ safety is also
noticeable,” Newaz said.
Because every commercial vehicle
has an additional driver, the
number of such unauthorised
drivers is likely to be even higher,
Newaz observed.
“Many of these drivers do not
even know the importance of obtaining
a valid licence. This is why
RAJIB DHAR
their number is on the rise,” he
added.
Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners’
Association Chairman Faruk
Talukder Sohel said: “About 80%
of drivers do not have appropriate
licences. Many of them are driving
heavy vehicles either with their
licences of light and medium
vehicles, or without any licence.”
BRTA Director (training)
Mohammad Sirajul Islam said most
of the drivers are running vehicles
using unauthorised, fake licences.
“Around 90% of them learned
driving from their ustads. We do
not have an exact record of such
unauthorised drivers,” he added.
BPWA Secretary General Mozammel
alleged that unskilled drivers
are bagging licences through
unfair means.
“There are complaints that the
drivers are declared qualified in
BRTA’s licence tests in exchange for
money, a portion of which is shared
among police and mobile courts,”
he added.
“If the trend continues, skilled
drivers would not be created,
which will result in more road accidents.”
Mozammel urged the government
to ensure fairness and transparency
in the tests and reform the
transport sector in order to purge it
of illegal drivers. •