Govt to decide in May whether to buy 4,000 buses: Quader

The government will decide next month whether to buy 4,000 buses to meet the growing need of public transport in Dhaka.

"We need more buses to tide over the transport crisis in Dhaka," Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader said at a programme on Wednesday.

"The mayor of North Dhaka and transport industry representatives will discuss this with us in May. Mayor Annisul has a plan to buy 4,000 foreign buses, so we will discuss it with bus owners," he said.

About the recent crackdown against buses that do not carry standing passengers and the threat to take away their route permits, he said: "They'll have to be notified first. The BRTA chairman said he has started making preparations."

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority or BRTA, he said, was 'asking around' to make a list of these 'errant' bus services.

Earlier this month, Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association announced that buses that carry only seated passengers will be shut down as those were not officially recognised under route permits.

The Apr 16 raid led to a crisis of buses in the capital city after many transport companies pulled their vehicles off the road, prompting the authorities to call it an artificial crisis.

But bus owners claimed drivers and their assistant were refusing to work because of the frequent scuffles with passengers over fare.