Duties on school bus import likely to go

The government will consider exemption of duties on import of school buses upon receiving intents from schools or related agencies.

Finance minister MA Muhit said this in his budget speech on Thursday.

Most of the schools in Dhaka City do not provide school bus service for commute of their students, and students are using family-owned cars when commuting between schools and homes, he observed in his speech.

This is one of the reasons of traffic jam in Dhaka city, he pointed out.

Exempiflying the developed countries, the finance boss said, “Through providing safer and easier commute by introducing dedicated school bus, we can reduce traffic jam in Dhaka City.”

In November last, the education minister Nurul Islam Nahid said in parliament that BRTC buses were ready for the commute of school and college students in order to ease the city’s traffic congestion.

But the initiative fizzled out as the guardians preferred using their private cars over availing school bus service.

About 21,000 private cars operate in Dhanmondi area only to commute between schools and homes, the minister then added.

The Dhaka city's road network covers only 7.5 per cent of its space while the global standard is more than 20 percent.