Country’s transport sector is bearing the brunt of the BNP-Jamaat enforced blockade as it is incurring loss around Tk239 crore per day. Fearing arson attacks, the owners of passenger buses, coaches, trucks and covered vans either stopped plying their vehicles or reduced trips. The buses, trucks and covered vans are the main targets for vandalism and arson attacks.
At least 154 vehicles, mostly buses, were torched during the BNP-Jamaat grand rally, hartal, and blockades across the country from 28 October to 13 November, according to media reports. Apart from the hassle being faced by people going about their daily lives in not finding sufficient transport options on the streets, there are even bigger impacts, for instance, rise in transport fares due to increased risks. According to the Mohakhali Inter-city Bus Owners' Association, over 700 vehicles leave Mohakhali daily. However, due to the ongoing blockades only a small number of busses are currently in operation.
Therefore, running buses only two days a week makes it financially challenging to cover workers' wages. Consequently, business owners are grappling with managing expenses, including bus operation costs and bank loan instalments.
Buses, trucks and covered
vans are the main targets for
vandalism and arson attacks
Economists fear it will have a huge adverse impact on the livelihoods of millions of people engaged in the transport sector. Thousands of people involved in transport sector, have already become temporarily jobless due to ongoing blockade programme, putting a serious stress on the economy. Besides, rickshaw-pullers, transport workers, day-labourers, street-vendors, hawkers, the employees of hotels, restaurants and different shops, markets, construction workers and other informal workers are the worst victims of the halt in economic activity as they have lost their means to earn bread and butter. Under the circumstances, social safety net must be widened further with adequate allocation while OMS activities in cities should be strengthened to mitigate the sufferings of the unemployed people.
The government should also make proper action plans so that the affected people in the informal sector can run their business and the jobless people can engage in economic activity. So, the transport workers in the country are facing financial troubles.
Transport workers and their families are struggling to get by as their main sources of income have disappeared following blockade. We think the government should provide food to the workers as part of their ongoing aid programme across the city.
As the BNP-Jamaat’s main aims to arson attacks in public transports and properties in the name of blockade, attackers must be identified and handed them over to police.