ALLEGATION of drug-taking against public transport drivers is a long-standing issue. To get rid of this allegation, earlier the Bangladesh Transport Owners’ Association said that their transport drivers must be brought under the dope test. Even after such an announcement made by the association in October 2019, it was not implemented yet. Earlier, Prime Minister issued a directive to bring public transport workers under a dope testing system.
The officials of public transport authorities have been discussing stopping driving under the influence of drugs for a long time. In response to their demand, Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, announced that dope tests of transport drivers would be conducted from December 2019. But the transport owners later complained that the BRTA, as well as police, did not cooperate then. Those who are driving the vehicles should keep an eye on whether they are drug addicts or not. Following the Prime Minister’s directive, the Road Transport and Highway Division held a meeting with all the heads of the agencies concerned to discuss how to implement the directives.
After the countrywide road safety movement in 2018, it was hoped that there would be some significant changes in the transport sector because of the big promises made by the government. But unfortunately, the department concerned could not keep its promises, and so no substantive changes have been made. Drugged driving, a common habit among drivers of commercial vehicles and transportation workers, is leading to road accidents in many cases. According to transport owners, a large number of Dhaka’s drivers and their assistants, who operate around 50,000 public transport vehicles, are drug addicts. Since it requires a variety of medical examinations, it may take some time to adjust the action plan. Though BRTA is responsible for punishing the addict drivers, they are in a long hibernation. We must keep the promise made with our next generation.
