Truckers threaten strike as govt ‘seizes’ cargo containers

Goods carrier associations claim authorities using loaded containers to block roads in Punjab

KARACHI: Owners of cargo trucks, who claim to move 95% of Pakistan’s import and export freight nationwide, have threatened to stage a strike from Monday if their vehicles are not released by the Punjab government.

The demand comes as the government seized over 3,000 cargo trucks in Punjab, using them to block roads and important locations in the province in a bid to prevent Imran Khan-led PTI from staging its sit-in in Islamabad.



However, Lahore Goods Carriers Association General Secretary Tariq Nabeel said the government is using cargo-loaded vehicles to block roads leading to Islamabad so that the November 2 planned sit-in does not take place.

“The Punjab government has caught over 3,000 cargo trucks in the last four to five days. They are filled with perishable items, chemicals, including those that are inflammable, medicines, textiles, etc,” he said.

“We are neither with the PTI/dharna (sit-ins), nor are we against them. We are simply businessmen. We want to continue transporting cargo. The government should use its own resources and machinery to do whatever they want instead of using our vehicles,” he added.

“Practically, the country’s exports have come to a standstill since we have suspended transportation services from today [Saturday],” he said. However, orders that have been accepted will be provided due transportation services until the active vehicles are confiscated.

Karachi Goods Carriers Association President Noor Khan Niazi claimed the Punjab government had seized around 8,000-10,000 cargo-loaded trucks belonging to transporters from all four provinces of Pakistan.



“These containers may also be filled with inflammable chemicals. If they catch fire, they could become a cause of collateral damage and the government would be held responsible,” added Niazi.

Most vehicles were seized by police personnel as soon as they entered the Kot Subzal area of Punjab from Sindh, said the officials.

Meanwhile, transporters have themselves parked another 25,000-30,000 loaded vehicles to avoid becoming hostage.

“We are vigilantly observing the situation. If the Punjab government doesn’t release our vehicles then we [transporters from all over the country] would become part of the strike from Tuesday,” he said.

The Karachi association is in close contact with goods transporter bodies all over the country, including the ones in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Mianwali, Gujar Khan, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Khanewal, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Sadiqabad, Sukkur, Hyderabad, he claimed.

He said there are around 8,000-10,000 truck transporters in the country. They own around 200,000-250,000 cargo vehicles.

“On average, around 3,500 vehicles leave Karachi ports for the north and roughly the same amount returns to the city on a daily basis,” he said. A vehicle takes a week’s time to do one roundabout trip.

He said 92% import and export cargo is moved by truck owners in the private sector and another 2-3% is moved by the National Logistic Cell, while the remaining 5-6% is moved via cargo trains.

However, officials at the Karachi Port Trust and Port Qasim Authority said that ports are not crowded and the loading and unloading work is operating as usual.



Muhammad Saqib, Manager Cargo Operations, Port Qasim said that there is no congestion, nor was there any shortage of cargo transport at the port. Spokesman of Karachi Port added demurrages are charged from the sixth day of container’s arrival at the port. Most of them, carrying imported goods, get cleared in two to three days depending upon documentation.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2016.

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