River transports must charge fixed rate for Eid trips, says Advisor Sakhawat

River transports will not be allowed to charge any fares above the fixed rate during Eid trips, says M Sakhawat Hussain, the interim government shipping advisor.

“Each launch will have four Ansar personnel on board to ensure the passengers’ security,” he added.

Sakhawat spoke to the media at a briefing on Thursday following a meeting with stakeholders regarding the security on river routes during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

"The operators will not charge anything extra on top of the fixed fare. The amount they’re charging now isn’t the real fare. They’re not charging the amount fixed by the authorities but even lower. This is because they are seeing very few passengers now.”

"They will hang the fare chart from the 15th of Ramadan so the passengers can see the actual fare. They will not charge anything extra.”

Regarding Ansar deployment, the advisor said: “We have asked those launches operating to keep one commander and three Ansar members. Their duty is to ensure the security of passengers and nothing else. Owners should ensure this. They will use only the space provided to them.”

Sakhawat said the launch authorities will face penalties if they carry additional passengers. "They should not carry additional passengers. We have our inspectors to monitor that. If they are found picking up additional passengers not only at Sadarghat, but also at other places along their routes, they’ll face the consequences. We told the Coast Guard, River Police and Bangladesh Navy to monitor it. The Navy has the authority to conduct arrests.”

However, the Coast Guard, River Police and Rapid Action Battalion would not search the vessels unnecessarily, he said. “If they do, the launch authorities can file a complaint, and I’ll take action. There’s no need to engage in altercations.”

Sakhawat said they had also ordered porters to wear uniforms.

“We asked the lessees to provide uniforms to the porters at the jetties so the passengers can travel conveniently. If porters at a jetty are found without uniforms, we’ll take action against the lessee.”

The advisor also ordered a travel ban on the movement of speedboats and freight ships at night. There will be no unnecessary competition among the launches either.

"[The launches] must be fit to run. We’ll start the fitness inspection tomorrow. Those who will run the launches during the Eid holidays and are now preparing them in the dockyards should collect the fitness certificate. Otherwise, neither the authorities nor the government will be responsible when they are arrested.”

"We’re focusing on passengers’ safety as much as possible. I urge the launch owners to run the launches at a fixed speed. Those operating launches on short routes during the daytime must take approvals. Even those going to Barishal in the daytime and coming back, must take separate approvals,” the advisor said.