Bangladesh resorts to technology to improve road safety. Is it sustainable?

SCEPTICISM LINGERS

Although the automated monitoring system is certain to add a new dimension to traffic management, the government's questionable track record of implementing other projects in the field casts a long shadow over its latest endeavour, according to Prof Shamsul Hoque.

Pointing to the "lack of transparency and accountability" in some of the previous enterprises, the expert fears the purchases made under the ITS projects may ultimately end up going to waste.

Several initiatives centred on road safety were taken in the past, especially by traffic police, according to Prof Shamsul. Numerous signboards and signal lights were installed across Dhaka city as the prospect of traffic management using digital methods was talked up by the authorities. But after a few months, the plan to transition from an analogue to a digital model of traffic management fell by the wayside. Ultimately, traffic in the mega city is being controlled using the analogue system.

Highlighting the plans to introduce a digital traffic signal system on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway to reduce road accidents, he said, “Initially, heaps of products and equipment were bought without any kind of transparency and accountability. When these low-quality products began malfunctioning within a few days, requisitions of Tk 100,000 in funding for cameras worth Tk 10,000 were made.

"Then it was said that there was no need to spend so much money on the equipment and so, the programme was discontinued."

Prof Shamsul believes the country's road management system is very 'fragile' and emphasised 'institutional capacity building' to make sustainable headway.

“There has to be accountability. But we have not developed that professionalism here yet. We lack the institutional capacity.”

Drawing on his past experiences that fuel his apprehension about the new projects, he harked back to an initiative to implement four intelligent signals for traffic management in Dhaka. But after four years of work, it was decided that the project could not be implemented unless rickshaws were removed from Dhaka's streets.

"Why couldn't they realise that it wouldn't be possible to implement the project without removing rickshaws before taking it up? The realisation only came after the procurement of numerous materials. This is what I mean by lack of institutional capacity,” he said.

He fears that the new projects could end up going down the same path as some of their predecessors.

“There is also the issue of manpower and mentality to properly operate the ITS technology. It is not possible to implement digital technology projects with an analogue mindset. This project will not be sustainable without skilled manpower," he said.