Bangladesh
Transport Strike Passengers return from bus terminal disappointed as strike continues
Dhaka, November 6: The public transport and freight transport strike has been going on across the country since 6:00 am on Friday in protest of the increase in diesel price by Tk 15 per liter. Long-distance passengers are in trouble due to such strikes.
Transport owners and labor leaders said the price of diesel was raised from Tk 65 to Tk 85 per kg last Wednesday night. This has increased the cost of transportation several times. They have called a strike in protest. Otherwise, the owners will have to count the losses if they run the previous fare or transport. Now they will call off the strike if the increased price of diesel is withdrawn or the fare is increased. Otherwise the strike will continue.
At 11:00 am on Saturday (November 6), more than 400 long-distance buses were lined up inside the Mohakhali bus terminal. Hundreds more buses are parked on the road outside of this. Most of the bus drivers and their assistants were not seen. But the passengers are going to the terminal for a while to go to their destination. They are going back frustrated as the bus is not running.
The Liaquat Ali couple came to Mohakhali bus terminal by rickshaw from Badda. They returned home without getting a bus. During the talk, Liaquat Ali said, there is no rationale to increase the price of diesel by 15 rupees in one jump. Similarly, it was not right to call a huthat strike without discussing with the government. Ordinary people are in trouble because of their work.
Asked about the strike, Khandaker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said they had applied to the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTA) to increase fares immediately after the government increased diesel prices. But the BRTA did not make any immediate decision. They called a meeting tomorrow. If the fare is increased at that meeting, the transport owners will withdraw the strike.
