Lawmakers break traffic laws most often in Bangladesh, says road transport minister Obaidul Quader

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said lawmakers, usually vocal against traffic snarl, break road rules most often.

He projected the politicians as a ‘hindrance’ to solutions to many problems in a discussion on road safety in Dhaka on Monday.

The minister said the lawmakers criticised traffic congestion on highways but it was they who broke the law most.

“Upgrading the roads to 16 lanes would not make any change if the mindset doesn’t,” he said.

“VIPs break the law, travel on the wrong side of the road with protocol. Nobody bothers.”

The minister said the widening of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway to four lanes was being hampered by the failure to demolish mosques, temples, graveyards and schools on the way.

“This is Bangladesh.”

Quader held politics responsible for encroachment on roads.

“Contractors and engineers fear (to take steps), so I have to run everywhere,” he said.

“What will we treat when the whole body is ailing?”

He said, “There is too much politics in the country. The roads cannot be made free of grabbers due to this politics.”

He admitted that the hawkers had again seized the footpaths soon after their eviction because of the same reason.

He said he was in ‘trouble’ because of a hike in fares by bus companies, including the BRTC, during the Eid season.

Criticised for the ‘eye wash’ activities on the road, the minister said his field visit had reduced people’s sufferings. 

At the programme, the minister told the organisers, “We need coordinated action, not coordinated lecture. Hold programmes of action, not of lecture.”