THE High Court order on Monday as reported in the media asking the government and the police to keep unfit motor vehicles off the roads across the country is a right direction on the authorities concerned as it can’t come at no other time when fatalities in roads and highways are on the rise. What may have moved the learned court the most is the traffic jam and overcrowded Dhaka city streets with worn out buses causing rising accidents on the highways and death to people almost on daily basis. We welcome the High Court’s move and its concerns about public safety and urged the government, particularly the police and Roads and Highways Department to take urgent steps to clear the city streets and highways from unfit vehicles to create a situation where the risks to accidents will become at the lowest. The government has already ban three-wheelers on the highways to ensure public safety. It is a right decision but the way it taken made it controversial spreading chaos across the country. These are highly political matter and discussion with stakeholders could have only removed the chance of chaos. Bureaucratic attempt to clear the highways by force or charging higher tolls from Buriganga Bridge only shows that use of force can’t be able to achieve the goals. It is our view that the government should immediately sit with the bus owners’ associations and other transport workers bodies to secure their support to withdraw the unfit and dilapidated vehicles from the streets and highways. They must have uptodate fitness certificates of the vehicles and proper license of the drivers. Inefficient drives are causing accidents in the roads and highways. We want to see High Court Division’s order to be carried out but the weakness of the government is the main obstacle. It is unthinkable that for withdrawal of unfit and dilapidated buses, a court order will be necessary. How to save the government for governance that is the problem. Can the court do it?
