Transporters ask govt to allow public transport

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar Transport Owners Confederation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday asked the government to allow them to operate the public transport.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Zahir Shah Yousafzai said they would stage a sit-in if the government did not allow them to ply their vehicles.

He said the transporters did not want confrontation with the government, adding that they could not afford to suffer more losses in the face of the pandemic.

He said the transporters were contributing millions of rupees to the national exchequer by paying various taxes but the government was creating problems for them.

Zahir Shah maintained that the prices of daily commodities and petroleum products were increasing with each passing day and it had become difficult for them to make ends meet in the prevailing circumstances.

The coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns, he said, had added to their miseries.

He said it was astonishing that private vehicles, trains and the Bus Rapid Transit service were operating and business centres were allowed to do business, but the public transport was kept off the roads.

He said thousands of families were attached to transport business and thousands of people were badly affected due to the closure of bus stands and public transport.

He asked the prime minister, chief minister and the commissioner Peshawar to allow transporters to open bus stands.

He said transporters would ensure compliance with the standard operating procedures to contain the spread of the Covid-19.