As transporters’ strike continues, economy suffers

Businesses bearing losses of billions due to curbs on movement of heavy vehicles

KARACHI: A construction site in Karachi currently stands silent, but employees are still running around looking for alternatives as the transporters’ strike stretched to an entire week.

A wave of inactivity and frustration has made its way into the country’s business community, an unusual and new occurrence for Pakistan where CPEC-related developments and renewed confidence on the part of investors have kept the economy buzzing.

“Our business has been directly affected because the raw material has not been able to reach the construction site,” Bushra Nadeem, managing director at Gravity Works, told The Express Tribune.

Nadeem is one of several affected by the transporters’ strike, triggered after the Sindh High Court imposed round-the-clock restriction on the movement of heavy vehicles within Karachi’s jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, frustrated exporters have warned the government of serious consequences if the strike is not ended immediately.



The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) - an apex body of all chambers of commerce in the country - has already threatened to move the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“We will move the Supreme Court if the strike does not come to an end immediately,” FPCCI President Zubair Tufail told The Express Tribune from China, where he has gone as part of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s delegation to attend the Silk Road conference. He has also requested PM Nawaz to help resolve the issue.

Tufail’s remarks came after the SHC, while hearing a ‘heavy traffic case’ on Saturday, ordered authorities to continue the ban on entry of heavy traffic in Karachi. The next hearing is scheduled for May 20, 2017. Industrialists, exporters, and importers say the business community is facing losses of billions of rupees on a daily basis due to the strike that has crippled all sea port operations in Karachi.

“We do not want to continue this strike, but we are not allowed to operate in Karachi due to the SHC orders,” United Alliance Pakistan Vice Chairman Madad Khan Niazi told The Express Tribune.

Mian Kashif Ashfaq, CEO of ChenOne, one of the largest garment store chains in Pakistan, commented that the government has failed in controlling the situation. “It’s a huge setback to exporters as well as importers,” he said.

Some leading exporters also criticised the Sindh government for not investing enough in the road network. They say the current roads are not capable of supporting the movement of heavy traffic due to which they have to pass through city areas, causing accidents and traffic congestion in the city.

Mian Muhammed Ahmed, patron-in-chief at Port Qasim Association of Trade and Industry (BQATI), commented that the Sindh government is not doing enough to end the crisis.



“The strike has now extended to all parts of the country and this is going to cause severe problems in Ramazan,” he added.

Despite repeated attempts, Sindh Transport Minister Syed Nasir Shah was not available to comment. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Senior Vice Chairman Zahid Mazhar also urged the government of Sindh to use its good offices to resolve the issue that grew following the SHC orders.

He said exports worth Rs6 billion are getting affected on a daily basis due to this strike. He also said that over 31,000 cargo containers were stuck at all four terminals of seaports in Karachi. Now, the terminals are getting choked due to arrival of new import containers while transporters are not ready to lift export consignments.

The issue is a desperate one for Pakistan.

In the first 10 months (July 2016 to April 2017) of the current fiscal year, the trade deficit has already jumped to $26.55 billion, up 40% from $18.95 billion in the same period last year.

“If this trend continues, the trade deficit for the current fiscal year would reach to a record level of about $32 billion,” Mazhar warned.

Industrialists say consignments stuck at ports could also lead to closure of industrial units. “The Sindh government needs to chalk out a plan for the movement of heavy traffic so that import and export consignments reach their destinations on time and the business community does not suffer heavy financial losses,” he added.

Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) - one of the largest industrial zones in Karachi - President Masood Naqi said that a long-term and permanent solution should be provided to transporters to resolve this issue permanently.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2017.

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