Turn the roads safe before imposing tolls

THE Road Transport and Bridges Ministry has started working on the Prime Minister’s directives to collect tolls from vehicles plying the four-lane highways without any public hearing or Parliamentary decision. A move that is likely to raise people’s cost of transportation is out of public debate and media attention. The Ministry concerned has not yet identified the highways on which tolls would be collected and the vehicles types. However, primary targets are the four-lane highways. The government cannot impose any type of tax without discussion and decision in Parliament.
Under the Toll Policy-2014, the RHD is currently collecting tolls on the two-lane 50km Hatikumrul-Bonpara highway, 13.7km Chattogram Port Access Road, and 74km stretch of Dhaka-Sylhet highway between Jagadishpur and Sherpur. The base toll is Tk 2 on each kilometre on important highways, Tk 1.5 on national highways, Tk 1 on regional highways and Tk 0.5 on district roads. The Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways are four-lane. Besides, construction of four-lane Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mawa highways is underway. About 32,000 vehicles use the Dhaka-Chattogram highway every day. Currently, vehicles have to pay to go across the Meghna and Gumti bridges on Dhaka-Chattogram highway.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during an ECNEC meeting on September 3, instructed the authorities concerned to collect tolls from long-haul vehicles on the national highways. The Road Transport and Bridges Ministry recently received a letter from the Planning Ministry in this regard. But at present, it would be right to collect tolls from the four-lane highways only because the benefits that should be given to people before collecting tolls are present on these highways only.
Bus service operators and road-safety campaigners say the passengers will ultimately shoulder the burden as the transport companies would charge more from them once the decisions are implemented. The government must turn the roads safe and ensure a smooth journey before imposing tolls. Overloaded vehicles and the poor quality of construction work are the main causes of the hefty maintenance costs. So, it is unethical to collect tolls from people while overloaded vehicles are allowed and the quality of roads is questionable.