Halt road repair, construction for 14 days: FBCCI

The country's apex trade-body on Sunday called for keeping different road construction and repair works suspended for 14 days - from April 27 to May 10 - to help facilitate the home-goers' smooth Eid-ul-Fitr journey.
A committee of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) also called for deploying highway police members in the heavy-traffic zones across the country.
Business leaders came up with the call at the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Transport and Communications (railways, roads and highways), held at the trade-body office in the city's Motijheel area, a statement said.
FBCCI senior vice-president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu attended the meeting as the chief guest.
He said the movements of vehicles slow down due to repair and construction work on various points of the roads and highways, resulting in huge traffic jam.
"Besides, the Bangladesh Police authority should take strict actions to stop extortion on the roads."
The FBCCI would send letter to the home minister and the inspector general of police (IGP), requesting them to take necessary steps to stop such extortion, he informed the meeting.
The FBCCI meeting also called for increasing the number of ferries and ferry trips to avoid long queues of buses and trucks at Mawa and Aricha ghats.
Director-in-charge of FBCCI standing committee Md. Aminul Haque Shamim, FBCCI director Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, former director Abdul Haque, secretary general Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, and committee co-chairmen Md. Jahangir Alam, M. Humayun Kabir, Faruk Talukder Sohel, Golam Kabir, G. Rahman Shohid, and Bazlur Rahman Ratan were present at the meeting, among others.
Referring to the severe financial loss due to traffic jam, Aminul Haque Shamim informed that the heavy jam at Tongi daily costs financial loss worth of Tk 100 million.
Public transport sector received no government assistance despite being the most affected sector, as it remained shut for almost 18 months during the COVID pandemic period.
In addition, the transport owners have to pay bank loan instalments regularly to avoid being defaulters, even if they have no income.
In this context, he urged the government not to impose further tax or duty on tire, tube and other such things in the budget for next financial year.
Ramesh Chandra Ghosh, president of the Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association and chairman of the committee, said the law-enforcement agency members illegally collect money from vehicles at Joykali Mandir and Ittefaq intersection in the capital every night. He sought help of the police authority to handle the situation.

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