The shipping minister, Shajahan Khan, on Monday said no corruption would be tolerated in distributing CNG auto-rickshaws to the Mishuk auto-rickshaw owners.
The minister said this at a discussion meeting organised by the Dhaka Metropolitan CNG Auto-rickshaw and Mishuk Owners and the Workers’ Unity Council at Tamanna Complex auditorium in the capital to press their five-point charter of demands.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority made the city roads off-limits to 2,829 Mishuks on January 1, 2012 after their route permits expired on December 31, 2011.
The minister at the programme said only the Mishuk owners would get permission for CNG-run auto-rickshaws but no CNG-run auto-rickshaws’ owners would get the fresh permission.
Shajahan Khan said he was keeping eye on this matter.
The unity council joint convener and Dhaka Metropolitan CNG Auto-rickshaw and Mishuk Workers’ Union general secretary, Shakhawat Hossain Dulal, said bureaucratic tangle was delaying implementation of the government decision.
‘We will continue our movement until our demands were met,’ he added.
They also demanded renewal of route permit for the expired vehicles, extension of the vehicles’ route permit to another 20 years, return of the Mishuks that were seized by law enforcers and rehabilitate the 50,000 people that depend on the industry.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board on the day gave their nod, at another meeting, allowing Mishuk auto-rickshaw owners to launch new CNG auto-rickshaws on the Dhaka city roads as per their demand.
DTCB transport enforcement officer Sheikh Omar Farukh said the communications ministry had sought their opinion on the issue.
‘We have given our opinion today (Monday) at a meeting at our office that the affected Mishuk owners and drivers should get approval to ply CNG-run auto-rickshaws in Dhaka,’ he said, adding that the ministry would finally take decision.
BRTA director (engineering) Mohammad Saiful Hoque said DTCB gave their recommendations on Monday while their representatives were also present and the ministry would make decision on the matter after getting these recommendations.
‘I do not know when the ministry will approve this proposal. But it will take immediate action after getting our recommendations,’ he said and added that the recommendations would send to the ministry very soon.