Forced out: Transporters protest shifting of bus terminal

Protesters allege that officials wanted to allot the plot of bus terminal to a former MNA.

SUKKUR:

A number of transporters and political workers staged a protest demonstration and sit-in outside the Jacobabad Press Club on Saturday against the shifting of the bus terminal to the outskirts of the city.

Transporters and activists of different political parties, including Shahree Ittehad, Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, gathered at the DCO Chowk. Led by Transport Union President Haji Israr Jakhrani, Shahree Ittehad President Akram Abro and others, the protesters carrying placards and banners shouted slogans against the district administration and the police.

They alleged that the officials wanted to displace the transporters to serve the vested interest of influential persons.

Later, the protesters marched towards the press club, where they staged a sit-in for more than one hour. Speaking on the occasion, the leaders said that the bus terminal, situated in the city centre, was spread over 14 acres and had all facilities, including automobile workshops, spare parts shops, tyre shops and hotels, while the new space allotted to the transporters is three kilometres away from the city and is not enough to accommodate the bus terminal and shops.

They said the police and the district administration wanted to allot the precious plot of the bus terminal to a former MNA, but they will not let this conspiracy succeed. They said the new bus terminal is situated out of the city and no security arrangements have been made for the transporters and the passengers over there.

The police have forcibly shifted the bus terminal of the city, but it had failed to remove illegal terminals at many places of the city. They demanded the district administration should provide the necessary facilities and security at the new bus terminal.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2013.