Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today urged all to build a ‘wall of awareness’ with strong morale against coronavirus at homes and offices.

He made the call while talking to the officials of Bangladesh Road Transport Cooperation (BRTC) through videoconferencing from his official residence here.

Quader, also Awami League general secretary, said the movement of public transport began yesterday on some conditions.

On the first day of the transport movement, the health guidelines were followed in the most of the cases, while there were also allegations of violation of the guidelines, he added.

The road transport minister urged the transport owners and workers to follow the health guidelines and maintain social distancing in running public transport amid the coronavirus crisis period.

Calling upon the passengers to be more aware of the deadly virus, he said coronavirus could be prevented through mass awareness and maintaining social distancing.

He feared that any negligence and laxity of the people may aggravate the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Stressing the need for strictly following health guidelines in public transports, Quader said the BTRC buses must be turned into a trusted mode of transport for commoners by preventing coronavirus transmission apart from building those as a model of health consciousness.

He urged the BRTC officials to make the public agency a profitable one by bringing it out of the vicious circle of corruption and irregularity.

The road transport and bridges minister instructed the authorities concerned to take an initiative to install tracking devices and introduce digital tracking system in the BRTC buses.

BRTC chairman Md Ehsan-E-Elahi and senior officials of the corporation were present.