LAHORE: Several incidents of highway holdups and violent lootings compelled the All Pakistan Goods Transport Association (APGTA) to invite transporters to unite in pressing their demand for safer highways.
The inter-city goods transporters in Punjab responded to the call by blocking all major roads leading up to the Babu Sabu Motorway Interchange.
Malik Shaukat Ali, the APGTA information secretary stated that the local administration and the police were responsible for ensuring transporter safety. He stated that the frequency of violence against transporters had increased and the strike would be observed until the government took sufficient measures to restore their confidence about travelling with cargo.
“There have been at least 30 reported incidents of robberies within the span of a month and trucks are often looted at Sheikhupura Bypass and Bhakkar Road, Khushab. These crimes have been reported to the police who have failed to act urgently or sufficiently. It is time to take the law into our own hands and observe a complete strike to get the relevant authorities to notice and take action on our concerns,” said Malik Shaukat addressing the protestors.
A protestor named Malik Fahad stated, “The Highway police behave like bystanders while our trucks are constantly looted. If we try and resist we are beaten or shot. We are either looking at major financial losses or death. This really is no way to work.”
Chairman (APGTA) Yousaf Shehwani stated that oil tankers were routinely targeted as well. He announced the decision of the Oil Tankers Association to join the protest and stated that he suspected the involvement of politically influential people in all such incidents. He stated that police inability to resolve the problem could only be attributed to pressure for influential, connected and senior officials.
The spokesman for National Highway and Motorway Police stated that police officials were aware of the transporters’ problem and had arrested a few men in relation with such crimes. He added that the suspects were being investigated and stated that his officers were doing everything in their power to prevent such incidents.
In an offshoot of the same call, thousands of protestors from the districts of Dera Ghazi Khan and Muzaffargarh observed a wheel-jam strike on Monday.
In a show of solidarity, the massive crowd gathered at Pul Dot, the inter-provincial intersection, and blocked the highway by parking their trucks perpendicular to the tracks. They chanted slogans against the government and the police for failing to protect them from holdups and highway heists.
District president, Abdul Salam Nasir headed the protest and addressed participants in the presence of a heavy contingent of police officials. He stated that the highways were not safe anymore. He stated that at least 12 truck drivers had been killed in a span of less than two months on a 60 kilometre long strip of highway between Dera Ghazi Khan and Loralai.
He condemned the regular lootings and hijackings and the inability of police officials to effectively monitor major inter-city routes. Nasir added that a delegation had personally met the Balochistan chief minister to express their concerns but unfortunately no remedial measures were taken.
General Secretary (APGTA) Malik Khalid Mehmood led the protest by the transporters. The participants suspended inter-provincial traffic for several hours causing a massive jam.
The protestors threatened that they would gradually expand the scope of their strike and the frequency of their demonstrations if they were not guaranteed travel security and road safety. They said that the local transport sector and traders’ associations would be invited to their cause if their complaints were ignored.
Similarly, in Rahim Yar Khan the Punjab Goods Transport Association president Muhammad Suleman Khan organised a demonstration attended by transporters, stand owners, and truck drivers. Voicing similar complaints the participants decried the increase in diesel prices, the establishment of several illegal toll plazas and deplored the highways security situation.
The attendants organised a sit-in at Muslim Chowk for several hours and blocked motorway traffic. Additional reporting by Tariq Ismael
Published in the Express Tribune, June 8th, 2010.
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