Moinuddin for bringing construction and management of roads, bridges under one umbrella 

Chief Adviser's Special Assistant on Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges Sheik Moinuddin has stressed the need for bringing everything from construction to management of roads and bridges under one umbrella. 

He also emphasised that enhanced coordination and collaborative efforts should be taken for advancing this sector.

Moinuddin made the remarks while addressing a national dialogue on taking sustainable initiatives for establishing order in the road transport sector and adequate budget for road safety programmes organised by the Road Safety Foundation at the BRTA headquarters this morning (24 May).

"Despite having considerable experience, there has a major lacking of coordination in the road management. Road safety is related to connectivity, operation, public health, and coordination," he noted saying, "In our context, it's vital to prioritize road users and safety operations."

Development of an effective transport system depends on planning, operation, safety and maintenance, he added.

Mentioning that road safety is also hinged on engineering, enforcement, and education, the special assistant highlighted the media's role, saying it can help people to learn about road safety as well as inform them about government's efforts in this regard.

"Effort is there to bring all this under focus and a dedicated unit will be formed to look into the matters of the road safety," he said.

BRTA Chairman Md. Yeasin said a coordinated effort of all stakeholders has ushered in a satisfaction among common messes during the last Eid-ul-Fitr journey.

He said documents of about six lakh vehicle across the country were not updated while 78,000 vehicles are using fake number plates.

District and upazila level representatives of different organisations were involved with the BRTA to improve the road safety measures while initiatives were taken for public hearing in every month, he added.

With Road Safety Foundation Chairman Professor Dr AI Mahbub Uddin Ahmed in the chair, Highway Police DIG Md. Shafiqul Islam, Secretary General of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association Saiful Islam, Professor Dr Abdul Hamid of Health Economics Institute at Dhaka University, Professor Dr Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir of the Development Studies Department at Dhaka University, and Road Safety Foundation Executive Director Saidur Rahman, among others, took part in the discussion.