Tender will be floated for constructing the four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway within a week while its construction will begin this year, Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain said yesterday.
A firm will be selected by October to do the job, the minister said while speaking at a seminar on “Problem of road safety and its solution” at Sarak Bhaban in the capital.
He also hoped that its construction would be completed within the present government’s tenure at a cost of Tk 2,000 crore.
The government has a plan to construct two more four-lane highways on Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Faridpur-Barisal-Kuakata routes, Abul Hossain told the seminar jointly organised by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Roads and Highways Department and communications ministry.
He said they would reform the BRTA and computerise its services to improve performance.
The minister said it has become necessary to update the motor vehicle ordinance and make it worthy of the day to reduce the number of road accidents.
Abul Hossain also stressed the need for taking collective steps by all agencies involved in traffic management and safety.
It is possible to reduce the number of road accidents by 20 percent within three years and by half in 15 years following the fourth road safety action plan, he said.
Lawmaker Shajahan Khan said it is important to adopt flawless methods for road construction to bring down the number of road accidents.
He said stern actions must be taken against those involved in forging driving licences.
BRTA Chairman Kamrul Hasan, who chaired the seminar’s inaugural session, said the number of accidents could be reduced significantly if all people could be made aware of traffic rules.
He said although the fatality rate in road accidents is much higher than that of AIDS, the awareness campaign on road accidents is given less importance.
Roads and Railways Division Secretary ASM Ali Kabir said although statistics put the yearly death toll in road accidents at around 4,000, the actual figure is higher than that.
The statistics in the keynote paper of Dhaka Transport Coordination Board Executive Director Abu Bakar Md Shahjahan at the seminar show a total of 3,749 people were killed in 4,869 road accidents in 2007 while the number of deaths was 1,597 in 1994.
He said road accidents cost Bangladesh US$ 39 billion every year.
Abu Bakar cited overloading, overtaking and driving at high speed as main reasons for the rise in casualty in road accidents, he said.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Bangladesh News, Bangladesh Politics, Daily Bangladesh News, News, Politics
