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BB funds sought for safe rural transport

Star Business Report
Bangladesh Bank should create a special fund to provide low-cost loans to rural people to help them buy modern vehicles to cut road accidents and for faster transport of vegetables, an agricultural economist said yesterday.
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Comparatively cheap three wheelers—popularly known as Nasimon and Karimon—are widely seen plying in rural areas, but they are not safe and cause accidents, said Jahangir Alam Khan, also the vice chancellor of the University of Global Village in Barishal.
"We need to introduce modern and safe vehicles in rural areas to reduce use of accident-prone Karimon and Nasimon."
His comments came at a roundtable of the Road Safety Foundation at the Press Institute Bangladesh in Dhaka.
The income generation capacities of the rural people should be increased, awareness should be raised and roads should be improved to encourage them to use modern vehicles in daily life, he said.
"If we can introduce modem vehicles, it will reduce wastage of vegetables as well," he said, adding that now 30-40 percent vegetables perish during
their transportation because of the slow pace of the traditional vehicles.
The time has come to stand against the unsafe vehicles as they cause numerous deaths on the roads, said Nur Mohammad Talukder, a professor of Bangladesh Agricultural University in Mymensingh.
If the government really wants, it is very easy to change the scenario of rural transportation, he said. "The government will have to raise awareness and provide support for safe vehicles."
Transportation and communication system in Bangladesh is totally unplanned and unmonitored, said Moazzem Hossain, a former director of the Accident Research Institute of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
“We should build special roads adjacent to the highways and regional highways so that slow-moving vehicles can also ply on the main roads. Focus should also be given on inland waterways."
Hossain said bicycles should be encouraged in rural areas and modern mass transportation should receive more benefits.
"Prohibiting Nasimon and Karimon is not the solution. The government should introduce safe vehicles in rural areas and raise awareness of the people," said Mohammad Shahjahan Siddiqui, vice-president of the International Business Forum of Bangladesh.
Introduction of modem vehicles is the sustainable way to avoid road accidents in rural areas, said Abdul Hamid Sharif, vice-chairman of the Road Safety Foundation.
“We need policy support so that the prices of modern vehicles become lower." AI Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, chairman of the foundation; Jyotirmoy Barna, vice-chairman, and Abdul Haque, a former director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, were also present.