Chassis of imported reconditioned trucks are being converted into bus chassis in a number of automobile assembling factories, sector insiders alleged.
An official at Bangladesh Automobile Assemblers and Manufacturers Association (BAAMA) said some unscrupulous businesspeople are engaged in such activities along the bordering areas pulling the passengers' lives on the roads and highways in peril.
He, however, said the BAAMA members like Uttara Motors, TATA, Nitol, Road Master, Ifad, Navana and others maintain compliance as per their automobile assembling business policy.
He said the assemblers who are not BAAMA members are engaged in chassis joining to increase seat capacity and making truck chassis into bus ones.
However, the brand new trucks or other vehicles of the renowned companies are not being converted into buses or minibuses.
An official at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said, "We've learnt that some assemblers misuse their declarations."
"We usually provide them with individual declarations for importing chassis of buses and trucks but they misuse such official orders."
Another BRTA official, requesting anonymity, said the assembling factories are always under field inspection; but if chassis joining or other malpractices happen there, it is either a matter of hiding the truth by the assemblers or the officials are being managed.
Chief executive officer and chairman of the HNS Group Mohammad Shahidul Islam said, "It is not possible to stop such unethical practices under the existing rules of assembling vehicles."
He said the government must enact and formulate a particular compliance law in the assembling industry.
He said a number of traders are maintaining quality with their large investments despite enjoying the same duty while others are importing reconditioned truck chassis and converting them into high capacity buses for local market.
Mr Islam said, "If all the buses are tested, the officials will be able to find a lot of faults in their designs and configurations."
He said at present there are no compliances for inter-city and inter-district buses and trucks.
Currently, the assemblers are enjoying lower duty on Completely Knocked Down (CKD)-based automobile assembling than Completely Built Units (CBUs).
The government has provided the privilege of CKD to add local value and develop local light engineering industry.
Prof M Kamal Uddin, head of the Institute of Appropriate Technology at the BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology), said the officials in the assembling factories should supervise load capacity, alignment, centre of gravity, length and width of buses, trucks and other vehicles being assembled.
He said when a vehicle is designed, its dynamic and static load, length, width, centre of gravity and eccentric load need to be measured individually for cargoes and passengers.
He said when a truck chassis is converted into a bus one, then the driver cannot maintain its balance. Thus increase the chance of road accidents.
The BUET professor suggested forming a supervising body comprising members from BRTA, BUET and the BSTI (Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution).
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
