'Save BRTC services from pvt operators'

Taimur Alam Khandaker, at a press conference, said in the face of the unilateral demand by some private owners if the leasing system for BRTC buses is stopped, the corporation will again turn into a non-profitable one from its current profitable position.

He also disclosed that both the government and the opposition lawmakers have taken the lease of BRTC buses.

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The chairman alleged that the main cause of the conflict between the private operators and the BRTC is commercial. The increasing popularity of BRTC service among the members of the public in different district routes was the main reason behind the conflict.

The private operators stop BRTC buses at their will on different routes, ransack buses, force passengers to get down, and torture drivers and conductors, he added.

The chairman said in the last three years, a total of 25 BRTC buses including four volvo buses were either set on fire or ransacked causing an estimated loss of about Tk 2.10 crore.

He said a meeting of the private bus owners association in Rajshahi on June 29 demanded that BRTC buses would not be allowed to ply at upazila level and lease out their buses.

The BRTC is now plying 737 single and double-decker buses on 150 routes.

The corporation is going to introduce 10 more buses only for women in the capital this month, he added.

Dr Saleh Uddin, Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan and Abdul Khaleq of BRTC were present at the conference.