The government will consider shutting down the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) if it fails to improve its operations, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, warned on Saturday.   

He came up with the warning during a view exchange meeting on road safety after inspecting the BRTA building located in Banani area of Dhaka this noon.

Earlier on 19 December, while addressing a programme at Biddut Bhaban in the capital Dhaka, he also issued a one-month ultimatum to the BRTA to improve its overall performance and the dateline of the ultimatum almost came to an end.

“The behaviors, the BRTA officials are showing, can no longer be acceptable. I told them very clearly that many offices of the government have been abolished. We will consider shutting down the BRTA if there is no progress in its activities,” he said.

Referring to his one-month ultimatum to the BRTA, a regulatory body for ensuring order in the road transport sector and road safety, the adviser expressed his dissatisfaction saying that it has already ensured progress a bit but failed to reach the expected goal.

“We will keep the BRTA under our uninterrupted vigilance. Operation against unfit vehicles is underway and it will be strengthened in the coming days,” said the adviser.

About the spate of road accidents, Fouzul Kabir said that road accidents increased by 12 percent in the country this year compared to the past year.

“We have failed to reduce the number of road accidents since taking office, and we accept responsibility for this. Life is above and beyond any value. Shouldering the responsibilities, we asked all authorities concerned, including the BRTA, to compensate the road accident victims according to the existing law,” he said.