TIB shows what the country's transport sector is 'famous' for

The widespread irregularities, bribery and extortion prevailing in the transport sector, as found in a study carried out on it and released recently by the Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) chapter, only confirms the popular perception. It is quite natural that this has drawn the ire by stirring up the hornet's nest. Since some of the parties to this unearned money spinning have unspecific, general and pluralistic identities except the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the police, the two agencies resented the accusation of bribery. The BRTA's initial reaction is that the TIB's report is fabricated. Then at a press conference, the BRTA responded to the report, claiming it as "assumption-based, false and motivated". It further complained that the TIB report tarnished both the BRTA and the government images.
In its turn, the TIB retorted that its research does in no way tarnish the image of the government which has declared 'zero tolerance' policy against corruption. The report falls in step with that policy. Few dishonest people or corrupt organisations, if any, admit to resorting to bribery and corruption. Rather, there is always an attempt to project a clean image. But unfortunately, there are hardly any agency, organisation and institution in this country which knowledgeable and common people view as corruption-free or least corrupt.
Some of the departments, agencies and institutions have simply earned infamy in this regard. The BRTA has tried to explain that all its services are now delivered online and therefore there is hardly any scope for bribery and corruption. Does online service eliminate all the avenues for speed money? How? If registration of vehicles, renewal of fitness certificates and route permits and issuance of other required documents are held back, the service seekers have to enquire physically at the offices concerned. This is where underhand dealings are made in order to avoid delay and uncertainties. The fact is that the notorious and motivated never run short of excuses. They must be appeased or the service seekers will be harassed or deprived of what is legally guaranteed as rights.
The sub-registry offices are infamous for money changing hands rather illegally. On that count, the BRTA may not lag far behind, as the TIB and other reports reveal. This is why the transport sector is in disarray. There is hardly any capital in the world, where ramshackle buses – an eyesore indeed – belching out black fumes like ogres can ply with impunity. The authorities often make public announcement that such buses beyond their active life span would be taken off the road soon. But in the face of resistance from transport operators the authorities give in and the situation goes from bad to worse.
The other day there was a report that vehicles in the country use bad quality fuel and this is to a large extent, among others, responsible for heavy pollution of Dhaka's air. Even if the fuel oils were better, such unfit vehicles are likely to produce noxious fumes in their old and rickety engines. Chaos reigns supreme in the transport sector because official malpractices give it a permanent shape. Had the BRTA, the police and the city corporations been able to execute the existing legal provisions, the transport sector including local, long haul, inter-city or intra-city operations would improve substantially and bring down high incidence of accidents.
Political clouts are mainly responsible for allowing the transport operators to grow to monstrous proportion. All because shares of a fabulous amount of the unearned money goes to appease the stake-holders and other parties involved in the entire business. If the administration of the departments concerned was up to the minimum level of transparency, the BRTA would not be a losing concern, the Volvo buses it procured would not be dumped within eight years. The list is long. When private bus companies make huge profit, even after dispensing with some of it for meeting illegal demands, and expand their fleets, why does addition of a large fleet of buses to BRTC within a few years incur losses? No explanation can be satisfactory. The proverb, 'A fish rots from the head down' can be the ultimate verdict on the entire transport sector.

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