The government and the strikers agreed to give announcement after an around four-hour meeting at Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal’s residence in Dhanmondi from 9 p.m on Wednesday (Nov.20) nihght.
The Bangladesh Truck Covered-van Goods Transport Owners Workers Unity Council started the strike on Wednesday morning over nine demands, including amendments to the Road Transport Act, which came into effect earlier this month with harsher punishment for drivers, for violation of traffic rules and road traffic accidents.
Kamal had held a meeting with the strikers on Tuesday(NOV.19) night but they decided to press on with their program as the negotiations failed.
Briefing the media after the second meeting at 1a.m on Thursday, the minister assured the strikers of accepting their “reasonable” demands.
He gave them a June 30, 2020 deadline to meet certain conditions like renewal of licenses.
The minister said “inconsistencies” in renewal of licenses will go away and proper tests will be held to ensure that the eligible drivers can renew licenses to drive medium to heavy vehicles.
The authorities will allow the existing licenses to be effective until the deadline, the Home minister said.
Kamal said he would recommend Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader to accept the transporters’ second demand to lower the fines, which is four times the fitness fees, for unfit vehicles.
He will also recommend the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority to meet the third demand on technical specifications of vehicle size within the deadline.
The other demands are related to amendments to nine sections of the Road Transport Act.
Law Minister Anisul Huq will look into these demands and act, Kamal said.
“We hope they will withdraw the strike as they have agreed to resume services on Thursday(Nov.21),” he said.
The council’s convener Rustam Ali Khan who led a 20 member delegation in the meeting then announced the withdrawal of the strike, saying the government had accepted their demands.