In Galachipa upazila of Patuakhali, many youths including unemployed people of the area have got employment opportunities by transporting passengers on motorbikes rented like auto vans or rickshaws. The youths of the remote char areas who have been cut off from communication have now chosen to ride motorcycles as a profession to reduce the unemployment rate. On the other hand, rented motorcycles have become popular as there is no other means of transportation in these remote char areas.
As it is the only motor vehicle, students from remote areas, starting from pregnant women patients, are now traveling to school and college in this vehicle. Even shopkeepers are using this vehicle to carry goods. This has made their journey easier.
This motorcycle rental ride system has not confined in Galachipa upazila only, rather it has spread to whole Patuakhali upazila.
This information has come to light after talking to the hired motorcycle drivers and concerned people by visiting different unions of Galachipa on the spot.
Sanjib, a motorcyclist at the Galachipa Haridebpur bus stand, said, "I have been driving motorcycle for the last eight years. Due to lack of money, I started with a bike loaned from another person. A few years later I bought the motorcycle myself in installments.”
Afzal Hossain, a motorcyclist from the same area, said, "I started riding motorcycle in 2016. My income has decreased during the rainy season and nationwide lockdown at the first half of the year. But in the dry season, the income is at least Tk 18 to 20 thousand per month. I can manage the expenses of my family. I have taken up motorcycling as a profession. '
Milon, a motorcyclist at the Chiknikandi Motorcycle Stand, said, "I bought a motorcycle by depositing some money in the motorcycle showroom when I could not find a job. I am renting that motorcycle and paying the installment and also running my own family.”
Kamal Hossain, a 10th class student of Charkajal Secondary School, said, ‘Charkajal Secondary School is about 12 km away from my house. The road here used to be full of mud. I could not do regular classes as the school was far away. As the road has been paved for the last few years, the number of hired motorcycles has increased in the area.
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now ride motorcycles every day in class and in private. If I want, I can come home in the morning after private lessons and eat and drink and then I can take classes again.
Although it costs me at least Tk 18 hundred a month, the only popular means of transportation in our char areas is the rented motorcycles.
