FIle photo of Road Transport and Bridges Minister and Awami League General Secretary Odaidul Quader Dhaka Tribune

This initiative will bring discipline back to roads across the country, said Obaidul Quader at a press conference on Wednesday

The draft Road Transport Act will be tabled in the next Cabinet meeting, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference in the Bridge Division building in Dhaka, he said: “There is no doubt that roads are witnessing a lack of discipline. The prime minister has directed the law minister to table the draft of the road transport act in the next Cabinet meeting on Monday [August 6] for approval.”

The road transport minister further said the bill would be passed into law in the next parliamentary session.

“This initiative will bring discipline back to the roads in the country,” he added.

Obaidul also called on the students, who are demonstrating across Dhaka to demand justice for two students killed by a bus on the Airport Road, to return peacefully to their classes.

Addressing the accident, the minister said: “I do not believe the ongoing movement is an illogical act; this is a very logical reaction. The government is aware of this issue and is shocked over the incident.”

Later on the same day, Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters that the Ministry of Law had completed the vetting process of the draft law, reported UNB.

Asked about the maximum punishment provision in the proposed law, Anisul told reporters that he would not able to give details until it was approved by the Cabinet.

“Causing deaths through road accidents will be a punishable offence under the proposed act,” he said, adding that the law had been updated and made time-befitting.

Asked why it took so long to complete the vetting of the proposed law, Anisul said the ministry looked into every detail related to reasons that cause road accidents.

“It is an unfortunate coincidence that another accident occurred around the same time that the draft law was vetted and sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges,” the law minister added.