Long-delayed trustee board formed, finally
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from it.
The 12-member board is headed by the chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). Eight members are from different government agencies, two are transport leaders and the other one is a Dhaka University teacher.
The board, however, has no representation from the organisations which have long been working for road safety and ensuring compensations for accident victims.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said, “The board will now start working as a circular [regarding its formation] has been issued. It will start working in full swing once the rules come into force.”
The development comes more than three years after the Road Transport Act-2018 was passed in parliament and around a year after the chairman and member secretary of the board were appointed.
Under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance-1983, victims or their family members had the opportunity to seek compensation at the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal for death, injuries, and damage to properties caused in road crashes.
But the ordinance was repealed after the act came into force in November 2019, narrowing victims’ scope for getting compensation. In some rare cases, victims file writ petitions with the High Court seeking compensation.
Hundreds of people are killed and injured in road crashes every year, making it a serious cause of concern for the country. Two major movements were launched after July 2018 seeking safety on roads.
Following the unprecedented road safety movement in July-August 2018, parliament passed the stringent act in September 2018.
But the government delayed for more than two years in making the law functional due to pressure from transport associations, which have been demanding that some sections of the law be changed.
Currently, the law is being enforced partially as the government could not formulate its rules.
TRUSTEE BOARD
As per the act, the government will create a fund for compensating and treating, if necessary, road crash victims.
The fund will be created with one time or annual “contributions” from motor vehicle owners, transport associations, and the government. The rules will determine the amount.
The government will form a trustee board to manage the fund and related works, the act says.
Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) in December last year issued a circular, giving BRTA’s chairman and its secretary additional responsibility of the chairman and secretary of the trustee board with immediate effect.
On Sunday, the division issued another circular formulating the full board. The circular came into force immediately.
The board members include representatives from RTHD, Public Security Division, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Local Government Division, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, Roads and Highways Department and Highway Police.
Three other members are: Khondaker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association; Osman Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation; and Prof Tania Haque of Department of Women and Gender Studies of Dhaka University.
The BRTA chairman said they would now prepare an organogram and do other works of the board. Once the rules come into effect, they will start collecting contributions to form the fund.
“The rules will elaborately determine fees and procedures for collecting contributions and handing compensations to the victims,” he said.
THE RULES
After the law was passed, the RTHD under the road transport and bridges ministry tasked the BRTA with formulating a draft of the rules. After missing four deadlines, the BRTA submitted a “partial” draft.
But the law ministry, where the draft was sent for vetting in 2019, rejected it and asked for a “complete” one.
The BRTA then prepared the “completed” rules and sent them to the road transport ministry in September last year. The ministry sent the draft to the law ministry again in April this year.
After vetting the rules, the law ministry on September 16 sent back the rules with some queries. Later, the division sent it back to the BRTA, said officials aware of the development.
“We are working on the queries; and upon completion of the work, we will submit the rules to the division, which will forward them to the law ministry,” a BRTA official said, wishing not to be named.
If the law ministry gives the go-ahead, the road transport and bridges ministry will issue a gazette making the rules function, he said, adding, “So, it would take some more time.”