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Move on to waive toll for pvt ambulances

Finance ministry approves free passage on RHD roads, bridges, ferries

Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary
To help patients get ambulances at low fares, the government is going to waive toll for all private ambulances on roads, ferries, and bridges under the Roads and Highways Department.
The finance ministry has already given its consent to the proposal forwarded by the road transport and bridges ministry. An announcement to this end will come soon, said officials.
However, there " is still uncertainty
whether people availing
the service would get the expected benefits from the initiative because there is no fare chart or even a guideline for private ambulance operations. How the private ambulance operators will adjust this waiver remains a question.
Besides, bridges under Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) and ferries run by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (B1WTC) would continue to take toll from private and governmentambulances.
Ambulances of government medical facilities and organisations do not require to pay toll on RHD roads, bridges and ferries, a ministry official said.
Around 8,500 private and government ambulances allegedly charge people what they can in absence of fare charts.
The finance ministry in a letter to the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) last month said it approved the proposal on condition that the authority concerned would ensure that toll was deducted from the ambulance fare.
"We have already
sent a letter to the health ministry to take necessary steps in this regard, and we will take our measures upon receiving the reply," Shafiqul Karim, joint secretary (toll and axle) at RTHD, told The Daily Star on December 9.
Currently, 62 bridgesand 39 ferryterminals are under the RHD. Vehicles, including
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private ambulances, have to pay toll for using those. The BIWTC runs five ferry terminals, and two bridges are under the BBA where ail sorts of vehicles, including government and private ambulances, are charged.
The RTHD sent copies of the letter to secretaries of health services and medical education and family welfare divisions of the health ministry on December 1, but did not get any response as of December 18.
Following a directive from Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, the RTHD on October 10 wrote to the finance ministry seeking its consent to keep ambulance, like fire service vehicle, outside the purview of the toll. The finance ministry approved the proposal last month.
According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), some 6,254 ambulances were registered with it until November.
However, Dhaka Mohanagar Ambulance Malik Somobay Samity Ltd, a Dhaka-based organisation of ambulance owners, says over 8,500 private ambulances are now in operation, meaning many of them do not have registration as ambulances.
"We have been demanding for this benefit | toll free] for around two years, and the authorities have finally taken the step. We welcomed it," said Soriful Alam Mehdi, adviser of the
organisation.
With 351 members, the organisation has some 1,500 ambulances, which provide people with sendee under 999, a toll-free national emergency helpline run by the police.
UNCERTAINTY OVER BENEFIT
In absence of any guideline, private ambulances are charging people as they like, and even unregistered ambulances are in operation in rural areas, said Soriful, who also works for rights body Bangladesh Manobadhikar Bastabayan Sangstha.
The authorities should immediately fix the fares for each type of ambulance under a guideline, he said. "Otherwise, people may not get the expected benefit."
Alamgir Hossain, president of the Somobay Samity, said apart from the RHD establishments, they had to pay toll for bridges like Bangabandhu bridge under the BBA and ferries run by the BIWTC.
He said they normally took Tk 9,000 to Tk 10,000 for a round trip from Dhaka to Barishal as they were charged Tk 2,500 toll.
Alamgir added that apart from paying Tk 860 for crossing the Padma by ferry, they had been charged toll at four points for bridges on the Buriganga, Dhaleshwari, Arial Kha, Sandhya, and Sugandha rivers. They had to spend Tk 500 for using the Bangabandhu bridge.
Private ambulances and hearses are the only transports to take patients or bodies outside Dhaka as ambulances of government hospitals could carry patients within the capital. But government ambulances of other districts could take patients to Dhaka, he added.
The number of ambulances of government hospitals is very inadequate.
Take Dhaka Medical College Hospital as an example, the country's largest public hospital deals with more than 4,000 patients daily. It has only eight ambulances, four of which are old. The DMCH takes Tk 300 for a round trip within Dhaka, said Nasir Uddin, DMCH assistant director (administration).
Alamgir said patients and their families would not get the expected benefit if toll for all bridges and ferries were not waived.
Aminul Hasan, director (hospital) of Directorate General of Health Services, said private ambulances do not need any permission from the directorate for their operations.
A guideline for operating ambulance is being prepared, he told The Daily Star on December 9. He, however, could not say when they would be able to complete the guideline. Asked about the RTHD’s step, he said they were not aware of it.