Transporters postpone protest for two days in Sindh

Sindh ministers give reassurances of restoring public transport

KARACHI: Transporters' unions suspended their planned protest against the suspension of public transport for two days on Wednesday after the Sindh government assured them that the services would soon be restored in the province.

The transporters had given a call for staging a protest from May 28.

On the directives of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, provincial information minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and transport minister Awais Qadir Shah contacted Karachi Transport Ittehad president Irshad Bukhari and requested him to withdraw the protest call.

The ministers assured Bukhari that the Sindh government would consider the restoration of intra-city public transport services and sought two days from the Karachi Transport Ittehad, after which the transporters agreed to delay the demonstration for two days.

According to Bukhari, the ministers had assured him of a positive decision regarding public transport by May 30.

However, the Sindh government was yet to decide the future of inter-city and intra-city transport, while the transport minister was only trying to soothe the transporters, he added.

The transport minister had earlier hinted at the possibility of restoring public transport after Eidul Fitr. Meanwhile, the Sindh transport and mass transit department have sent suggestions for the restoration of intra-city public transport to the provincial coronavirus taskforce, which will likely take the final decision under the supervision of the Sindh CM.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2020.