Dhaka, Jan 21 (NationPress) The absence of luggage trolleys at Dhaka airport in Bangladesh signifies more than just a failure in operations; it reveals a governance framework that is prone to excuses, lacks accountability, and resists addressing the core issues. The luggage trolley dilemma at Dhaka airport serves as a national metaphor, according to a report.

Travelers arriving at Dhaka airport currently spend one to two hours searching for a trolley, which underscores the failures and justifications of the authorities, along with solutions that would leave any observer of public administration disheartened, as noted by Zakir Kibria, a Bangladeshi writer, policy analyst, and entrepreneur, in The Business Standard.

Officials claim that there is no genuine shortage. Group Captain Ragib Samad, overseeing trolley operations at Dhaka airport, mentioned that the system is adequately supplied with approximately 3,700 trolleys available in both arrivals and departures. The issue lies with passengers misusing the trolleys by keeping them for extended periods while waiting for their luggage at the baggage claim area.

"This is the first principle of our analogy: the issue is never a deficiency of resources, but rather the public's mismanagement of them. The government provides; the citizens mishandle. If only passengers could levitate their luggage, the system would run seamlessly. What makes this year noteworthy? Here, the analogy deepens into sheer poetry. The trolley crisis arises from flight congestion. The congestion is due to winter fog. The fog is a problem because the Instrument Landing System (ILS) was compromised," the report in The Business Standard emphasized.

The ILS was downgraded after runway lights were damaged by a Thai Airways aircraft last October, as reported by the newspaper. The repair of the lights has been delayed because the necessary parts need to be imported via a tender process. A single incident from months ago triggers a chain reaction, with each problem pointing back to the preceding link. The Civil Aviation Authority is accountable for the damaged lights but not for the trolleys.

"The trolley issue in Bangladesh is much more intricate. Here, the trolleys are completely non-functional. The mechanisms of state machinery—tenders, procedures, departmental jurisdictions—are so rigid from neglect that by the time anyone decides to take action, a dozen flights have already diverted to Kolkata, leaving 500 passengers stranded on their luggage," the report from A Business Standard elaborated.

Passengers will face hardships while authorities will attribute the crisis to fog, flight issues, and a lack of trolley-return etiquette.

"The luggage trolley crisis is not simply an operational failure; it serves as a national metaphor. It demonstrates that a system can be fully equipped with resources yet deprived of effective coordination and foresight. It illustrates how accountability can become so dispersed across multiple agencies that it ultimately disappears. Moreover, it reveals that the most amusing yet frustrating commentary is not penned by satirists; it is experienced daily by citizens, one delayed flight and one lost trolley at a time. The trolleys have exited the premises, yet the analogy remains," Kibria wrote.