Public transport to be allowed to operate only after lockdown ends, says minister

The Sindh government has once more reiterated its stance that public transport carriers will be allowed to operate on inter-city and intra-city routes in the province only after the lockdown regime imposed in the province to contain the spread of the coronavirus is lifted.

The stance of the provincial government to this effect was repeated Transport Minister Syed Awais Qadir Shah held talks at the Sindh Assembly on Thursday with representatives of the operators of the public transport service in the province.

Speaking to media persons, the minister said the representatives of the transporters had also assured him that the passenger service would be resumed both on intra-city and inter-city routes once the lockdown orders were withdrawn by the government.

He said the talks were held with the representatives of the transporters to adopt a mechanism to resume the service of passenger carriers in the province in the post-lockdown period, and in this regard standard operating procedures (SOPs) were being adopted.

Shah appreciated the transporters for fully supporting the lockdown to control the spread of the COVID-19. He said the government would soon make beneficial announcements for the operators of public transport, as the transporters had always supported the government in all circumstances.

The minister added that talks were held to announce a package for the workers of the transport service who had no resources or means to earn during the lockdown. He said the government had taken care of every sector related to the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

He held out the assurance that the chief minister would hold talks with the federal government on the issues of the transporters that related to the Centre’s domain.

He said a set of SOPs had to be adopted to revive the operations of the public transport carriers in the province in the post-lockdown era.

He said the provincial government had allowed operations of the goods’ transport during the lockdown to ensure the transportation of essential goods.

The minister said all the issues of the operators of public transport would be presented before the provincial cabinet. He said the government fully sided with the transporters, and all-out support would be given to them and their issues would be resolved. The representatives of transporters demanded concessions in the taxes levied on their service in view of their economic hardships due to the lockdown.