KARACHI: Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah on Thursday, while exclusively talking to ARY News, urged the association of all van drivers to end their strike which has caused great inconvenience to the people of the metropolis.
The provincial minister asserted, “it is the decision of the honorable court and if strikers want to approach the judiciary, they may. If the court gives any verdict in their favor, then we can devise a transport policy with regards to it.”
He further requested the van association to call of their strike and as, “it is a very sensitive matter.”
“We have nothing in our hands right now to make any commitments about their demands because it is court’s decision,” Shah clarified.
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Earlier today, school van drivers in Karachi announced to go on a strike, once again until acceptance of their demands.
This is the second time that drivers, under the aegis of School and Colleges’ Vans’ Associations, resorted to strike. They first announced to keep their vehicles off the roads on Jan 10 due to government’s crackdown on vehicles using unsafe CNG cylinders. They had called off strike after assurance from authorities that seized cylinders would be returned.
The association said they won’t offer pick and drop services to children until their demands were accepted.
Crackdown on school vans
It may be noted here that the crackdown on school vans with CNG cylinders began on Jan 7 on the directives of Karachi Traffic Police Chief Javed Ali Mehar who expressed concern about the safety of school children after an incident in the first week of January where a school van in Orangi Town caught fire due to a short circuit.
Mehar recalled that the Sindh transport department had already banned CNG and LPG cylinders in school vans and said that the recent crackdown was initiated to ensure the implementation of the ban.
