Who will look after public interest?
It is not every day we find a state minister lay bare what has been public knowledge for long—that there is rampant and uncontrolled extortion on the highways. It is not only the police that are to blame. Rather, the finger has been pointed at a federation of transport workers that is headed by a powerful minister.
What is interesting to note is that there has even been talk about legalising extortion in the transport sector in a bid to control how much each transport may pay nationwide. Besides such activity being totally illegal, this is hardly any way to combat the ad-hoc toll collection by various parties including alleged involvement of law enforcers who are supposed to maintain the law on the highways instead of being party to the unlawful activity.
With rampant extortion by various bodies comes the problem of overcharging both commuters on buses and driving up transport costs for parties that need to move goods between districts. At the end of the day, it is the general public who are forced to bear the costs of these “extra” fees that are levied on transports. As these illicit transactions are being enforced through organisations of owners and workers, headed by powerful lawmakers and their cronies on the one hand and a section of law enforcers on the other, what hope is there for reprieve from extortion?
We have been highlighting these issues for years. Now that we have the blunt admission by a policymaker, who also happens to run a transport business, of the magnitude of the problem, only a political decision at the highest level can rectify the problem. The question is: does the political will exist?
- Courtesy: The Daily Star/Editorial /Jul 19, 2018
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