Goods transporters end strike after talks with Governor Sindh

KARACHI: A strike by good transporters which entered its tenth day ended on Wednesday evening after successful negotiations with Governor Sindh Zubair Umar, ARY News reported. 

All the goods carriers went on strike in protest against the restriction imposed by the Sindh High Court (SHC) on the movement of heavy vehicles within the city at any time except water tankers or in special cases vehicles carrying commodities for daily use.

Governor Sindh said that many transport associations have called off their strike. He said that negotiations are being held with other associations who are still continuing their strike. He assured that security will be provided to cargo vehicles plying in the city and that alternate routes will be decided soon.

Earlier, some industrialists stepped in and filed a petition in Sindh High Court seeking amendment in the court orders imposing ban over movement of heavy vehicles in Karachi in day time. They also sought an end of the prolonged deadlock which has resulted in heavy losses to the economy.

The strike has hit hard various sectors of the economy, hindering transportation of goods and raw material to industries besides affecting the port operations adversely.

It is worth mentioning here that about 7,000 to 8,000 containers carrying raw material, imported food and other items travel daily from Port Qasim to  Landhi and Korangi industrial areas — a distance of about 35 kilometres.

Two container terminals of Karachi port i.e. Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT) and Pakistan International Container Terminal have been crowded with containers as result of the strike causing congestion for the imported items.

The trade has been completely suspended for last few days as import of cargo was remained unloaded and no export cargo could be loaded due to the strike, which reportedly inflicted daily loss of Rs six billion to the country.