Transporters threaten Taftan route shutdown

Compensation demand deadline set for June 10

QUETTA:

The President of the All Balochistan Goods Truck Transport Companies Association, Noor Ahmad Kakar, has strongly condemned the repeated incidents of burning goods trucks, firing on vehicles, and injuring drivers across Balochistan.

He demanded that the provincial government ensure payment of compensation to all affected transporters by June 10.

Addressing a press conference at the Quetta Press Club on Tuesday, Kakar warned that truck owners would halt all cargo supply on the Quetta-Taftan Highway until June 10. He was accompanied by senior association members including Bashir Ahmad Halimi and Haji Malik Shah Jamaldini.

"Incidents of torching cargo trucks and targeting drivers have become a daily occurrence on major routes including the Loralai-Harnai Road and the Quetta-Taftan Highway," Kakar said. "Rising lawlessness has left transporters feeling extremely insecure, while the government appears completely failed to provide them protection."

He added that if the government fails to pay the pending claims by the deadline, the association will not only stop supplies on the Taftan route but may also suspend cargo services across Balochistan and shift their business to other provinces.

The association chief pointed out that while loading and unloading continues in other parts of the province, the Taftan route has been particularly hard-hit. "No one is paying attention to the losses suffered by truck owners or the injuries to drivers, nor is any compensation being provided," he lamented.

Kakar made it clear that the entire responsibility for any fallout from the proposed protest would lie with the government if it failed to address the legitimate grievances of transporters by the given deadline.