Oil tanker encroachments

It is deplorable that despite the Supreme Court’s judgment oil tankers still encroach upon Clifton Block 1.

It is deplorable that, despite the Supreme Court’s judgment six months ago that oil tankers vacate encroachments in Clifton Block 1, the transport mafia is still using the residential area as a parking terminal. Oil tankers in Shireen Jinnah Colony have illegally encroached on public property and are a nuisance to residents of the area. Parked on both sides of the road, these tankers and trucks leave only one lane for the movement of vehicles causing frequent traffic jams. Meanwhile, transporters blithely carry on repair and maintenance, oblivious to the inconvenience they are causing citizens. As a result, auto workshops have opened in the area and residential property prices have plummeted.

When a judgment given by the Supreme Court of the country is so flagrantly disregarded, it goes to show how weak rule of law is and how feeble the institutions meant to uphold it. In April, the transporters agreed to abide by the Court’s ruling, but they appear not to have taken their commitment seriously and are now complaining that the alternate parking site provided by Karachi Port Trust (KPT) is ‘muddy’. The fact of the matter is that these law and order transgressions point to the rampant graft and corruption present in the system and occur with the connivance of local government and police officials. In the meantime, the KPT has failed to do its duty by not removing the encroachments or facilitating the transporters with appropriate parking space.

In a welcome move, the Supreme Court has now directed a probe in the matter, asking the Secretary of the Oil Companies Advisory Committee to submit a compliance report on its verdict. The registrar of the Sindh High Court has also been ordered to inspect the suitability of the parking site provided by KPT. Hopefully, this will be a wakeup call for civic service providers and bring some relief to citizens who know only too well the futility of laws and judgments without on ground implementation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2010.