Road Transport and Bridges Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam has said all necessary measures have been taken to ensure people travel safely, and that cattle markets and bazaars beside highways will not be accepted under any circumstances.

The minister said traffic on the roads rises sharply around Eid. If illegal bazaars or cattle markets set up beside highways at that time, the risk of congestion and accidents grows, so effective steps are being taken in advance.

He spoke to journalists on the afternoon of 24 May after a public awareness meeting on preventing road accidents at Kharajora in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur.

Sheikh Rabiul Alam said: "Those who took up the BRT project took up a flawed project. It was not bus-friendly. The first proposal is that spending another Tk 500-600 crore on the project would make it useful. The second proposal is that the project should be demolished and removed. We have formed a high-level committee to review both proposals, and the review is under way. A decision will be taken after Eid."

"It seemed to me that if we can keep the project running by spending another Tk 500-600 crore, it could be put to better use than demolishing it. But the decision that is reasonable and people-friendly is the one that will be taken," he said.

The event was chaired by Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Md Nurul Karim Bhuiyan. Among those present were Habibur Rashid, state minister at the Ministry of Road Transport and Railways; Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas; Gazipur-1 MP Md Mojibur Rahman; Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation general secretary Md Humayun Kabir Khan; Road Transport and Highways Division secretary Mohammad Ziaul Haque; BRTC chairman Abdul Latif Molla; BRTA chairman Mohammad Habibur Rahman; GMP additional police commissioner Mohammad Taherul Haque Chauhan; and Gazipur Superintendent of Police Md Sharif Uddin.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.