KARACHI: The Karachi Goods Carriers Association, which is the largest goods transport organisation in the country, is afraid of the volatile law and order situation on the highways, especially from Karachi to Sadiqabad. Representatives voiced their concerns at a press conference organised on Monday at the Karachi Press Club.
The transporters asked the provincial and federal government to provide safety to them as they are regular taxpayers. “The transport sector is the only one in which taxes are paid before work begins,” said the general secretary of the association, Nadeem Akhtar Arian. He added that the police was not cooperating with transporters whose vehicles were robbed or snatched. “There is a mafia behind all of this. The police officials at the lower ranks do not cooperate with us and threaten the drivers.” He added that “some of the traced criminals have not been arrested.”
Arain appreciated the efforts of DIG Sanaullah Abbasi as well as SSP Waqar Milhan and said that they had played their part. They found out where goods stolen from the National Highway were stored or sold, he said.
“The situation was particularly bad in 2010 and the association made efforts to find out who the culprits were. But criminal activity has been at its peak since the beginning of this year.” He added that “the police catch the criminals, but the courts release them. How will we work? Thousands people are connected to the transport business. The loss of goods not only harms transporters, but shopkeepers as well.”
A protest was held outside the press club against the May 25 bus attack near Qazi Ahmed, Benazirabad. The transporters asked the government to arrest culprits and provide compensation to victims.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2012.
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