Automated Vehicle Inspection

Centres inoperative since inception

24 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Shahnaz Parveen

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has failed to start operating the Automated Vehicle Inspection Centres even 10 years after initiating the project, while it continues to issue fitness certificates to vehicles on the basis of 'visual testing'. The centres have never been officially operated, except a test run after the setting up of five centres in 2000. The BRTA officials said they do not have requisite technical hands to do so. Two inspection centres were set up in Dhaka and three others in Rajshahi, Chittagong and Khulna at a cost of about Tk 40 crore. However, the project faced troubles from the very beginning. BRTA officials blamed the contractor and suppliers for failing to hand over a fully functional facility to the authorities. They also alleged faulty installation of machinery at the centres. In the past ten years, the machinery installed at the centres were not properly maintained and also faced wrath of natural disasters such as floods, requiring massive rehabilitation. In 2006, ADB provided Tk 3.5 crore for a rehabilitation project. The BRTA has recently taken an initiative to engage private operators in running the facility, but it is being delayed due to the process of assigning an international consultant, BRTA officials said. An international consultant will be appointed to select the local private operator who will be given the responsibility to refurbish, operate and maintain the centres, said Syed Iftekhar Hossain, director (Operation) of BRTA. "Once the automated system goes into operation, the BRTA will be relieved of manual inspection of hundreds of motor vehicle a day, which is now our most difficult task," he said. "BRTA will issue fitness certificates after owners have their vehicles tested at the centre. A BRTA official will be posted at each centre to monitor the entire process of inspection," he added. BRTA currently checks about 400 vehicles daily in its Mirpur centre alone. The fitness inspectors examine about 13 lakh motor vehicles across the country just by having a look at them, creating a chance for unfit vehicles to hit the road again to wreak havoc. While BRTA works on employing private operators, transport sector leaders, however, remain sceptic about whether such computerised centres can work properly to examine all types of locally customised vehicles in the country. "After the engine is imported, most buses and minibus are customised in Bangladesh. Each bus is different in design, weight and measurement. We are still confused about whether the software used by the computers will work on such variations," said Khandakar Rafiqul Hossain Kajal, president of the Association of Bus Companies (ABC). BRTA official Syed Iftekhar Hossain said BRTA is working to address this issue. Some vehicle owners are also worried about the possible inspection fee, saying that it might be too high. Private companies are offering full inspection of a private car at a cost of around Tk 3,000 while BRTA is doing it for Tk 600.