The operators of public transport carriers in Karachi have put off their strike, which they had earlier announced for today (Wednesday), for 10 days after holding talks with Sindh Governor Imran Ismail.
The transporters’ association, Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI), on Tuesday announced putting off the strike after its delegation led by its president, Irshad Bukhari, met Ismail at Governor House.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, the governor expressed his gratitude to the KTI for putting off their strike on his request. He said that it was a joint responsibility of the federal and provincial governments to resolve the issues being faced by the public transporters.
The governor vowed to talk to the Sindh transport minister and the federal petroleum minister about the transporters’ grievances. He said any strike in Karachi had repercussions for the entire country and by postponing the strike for 10 days, the transporters had provided an opportunity to the authorities to take steps to resolve their problems.
Bukhari said the KTI had decided to put off its strike for 10 days in the greater interest of the city. He thanked the governor and the media for conveying their demands to the federal government.
The KTI president said fares of public transport carriers in Punjab had increased five times since 2011. He raised concern over the recent hike in the cost of compressed natural gas, and added that the Sindh government had also increased the rate of motor vehicle tax.
On Sunday, the governor similarly persuaded traders of the city of call off their strike that they had announced from Monday onwards against the increase in taxes in the new federal budget.
Ismail held successful talks with representatives of the Karachi Tajir Action Committee (KTAC), a body of the city’s traders, after which they called off the strike. The KTAC was represented in the talks by Jameel Piracha, Sheikh Alam, Hakeem Shah, Irshad Qadri, Waqas Azeem, Mohammad Arshad, and Mohammad Ahmed Qadri. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPAs Ramzan Ghanchi and Khurrum Sher Zaman were also present on the occasion.
Ismail said to the traders that Karachi was rightly considered as the economic hub of economic activities in the country as trading operations continued in the city for 24 hours. He said if businesses thrived in Karachi, it would guarantee economic activities in other parts of the country.
The governor said all the required measures would be taken to help the traders of the city continue with their businesses without any fear. Later, the governor and the KTAC representatives addressed a news conference in which Ismail said he had talked to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi about 11 demands of the traders.
CPLC
The governor also visited the central office of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) on Tuesday where he lauded its digitisation of approximately one million FIRs lodged at around 108 police stations of Karachi.
Briefing the governor on the project, CPLC chief Zubair Habib said the District East chapter of the CPLC had digitised the entire details of all the criminal cases, which occurred in its jurisdiction between 2010 and 2018.
The governor appreciated services of the CPLC that helped control criminal activities in the city, including extortion and kidnappings for ransom. He said a cell would be established at the CPLC central office where the Anti-Narcotics Force would collaborate with the Rangers and the police to stop the narcotics trade in the city.
