Traders protest alleged harassment

TAXILA:

Tarnol business community on Wednesday expressed concern over the alleged mistreatment of traders by the Islamabad administration and police, and called for their business-related concerns to be heard sympathetically and for a conducive environment to be created within the law.

Addressing a press conference in Tarnol, the president of the Tarnol Traders and Heavy Machinery Welfare Association, Syed Mustaneerul Hassan, said traders played a fundamental role in the country's economy. However, he regretted that traders were being subjected to heavy fines over minor issues, while respectable businesspeople were allegedly summoned to police stations and harassed, which he said was unacceptable.

He said their association aimed to provide traders, shopkeepers and workshop owners in the area with effective access to government departments, public institutions and chambers of commerce, while working collectively to resolve their individual and collective problems.

Hassan demanded appropriate representation for Tarnol's traders in the economic zone. He also called for traders to be included on the committee being formed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) for road expansion, alongside petrol station and plaza owners.