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Safety ignored to make money

Launch owners adopt same old trick to make boats 'new' ahead of Eid

Pankaj Karmakar
Unscrupulous launch owners are at it again. They are giving their old, rundown, and unfit vessels a paint job and putting them back into service so that they could earn some quick money carrying people home for the holidays.
Like every Ramadan, which is a very profitable time for transport operators, they are mending and refurbishing vessels to have them look new and attract passengers.
The hastily repaired unfit and faulty vessels expose passengers to high risk of accidents, transport experts say.
Visiting dockyards in Keraniganj, this correspondent saw over a dozen launches being repaired and painted. Of them, MV Mahin-Rifat (Dhaka-Amtoli of Barguna) and MV New Sun (Dhaka-Torki of Barisal) were in very poor condition.
The two do not have any fitness certificate, according to the logbook of Department of Shipping (DoS), the government regulator.
"Our launch currently does not have a fitness certificate. We will complete our repairs soon. Then, we will apply for fitness certificate. We hope to run it before Eid," said Kawsar Miah, supervisor of the MV Mahin-Rifat launch.There was no possibility of the vessel getting a fitness certificate before Eid because DoS needs around 35 to 45 days to complete inspection procedures, said Mirza Saifur Rahman, engineer and ship surveyor of DoS.
However, a top level DoS official admitted that around 20 to 30 unfit vessels operate during the Eid rush.
These unfit and unregistered vessels do not use launch terminals. They pick up and drop off passengers from mid-river or banks, said the official seeking anonymity.
As there is a huge rush during Eid, the passengers do not care about fit or unfit vessels and the government bodies concerned are too busy with river traffic and security, the official added.
On fitness inspections, Mir Tareque Ali, professor of the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering of Buet, said the vessel inspection department has
unskilled and inadequate manpower.
There are only five ship surveyors for 1,061 passenger-carrying vessels, according to DoS statistics. In the last one and half months, DoS issued fitness certificates to only 16 launches, according to its register.
There are around 25,000 unregistered passenger vessels in the country, sources said.
Saidur Rahman Rintu, vice-chairman of Bangladesh Inland Waterways (passenger carriers) Association, said launch owners usually repair and refurbish vessels to attract passengers ahead of Eid. But no unfit vessels would be allowed to ply.
"Every year, we see the same thing that many unfit and faulty vessels become 'new' before Eid due to a lack of government monitoring. It is the government's duty to ensure passenger safety," said Ashis Kumar Dey, convenor Nou, Sarak O Railkhat Rokkha Jatiya Committee.
“The season of stormy weather has passed. Now, the vessels may face rain. Proper weather forecast is very important. We are taking safety measure as usual like every year," said Mahbub Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram, chairman of Bangladesh Inland Waterways (passenger carriers) Association.
Like always, the government-run BIWTA has said it would check overloading and take other necessary steps to ensure passenger safety, but in reality, almost nothing gets done.
Around eight to 10 lakh people leave Dhaka city from about a week before Eid through Sadarghat Launch Terminal, according to launch owners.
At least 5,290 people had died and 1,236 remain missing (presumably dead) in launch accidents across the country over the last 20 years, claims a non-government study.