Indefinite bus strike in five SW districts

30 June 2009, 17:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Khulna

Bus services on 28 routes in five southwestern districts came to a halt as owners and workers yesterday began an indefinite strike to press home their six-point demand. Bus owners and workers associations of Khulna, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Jhalakati and Barisal districts have jointly enforced the strike, causing untold sufferings to thousands of passengers of the five districts. The demands include withdrawal of state-owned BRTC buses from 28 routes of the districts, withdrawal of the cases filed against owners and workers of private-owned buses, stoppage of movement of any passenger bus on these routes from outside the five districts, framing of an acceptable policy to ensure safe movement of private-owned buses and full implementation of the decisions taken on April 23 at a tripartite meeting in the Ministry of Communications. The Ministry of Communications formed a nine-member committee on June 12 to examine the demands. Report of the committee is yet to be submitted to the authorities concerned. “We have been compelled to go on strike from today as the deadline to meet our six-point demand expired on June 29,” said Md Nazrul Islam Montu, president of Bagerhat Inter-district Bus Owners' Association.