Losses reported by the business community following the Sindh High Court’s ban on movement of heavy traffic during daytime to and from Karachi Port amounts roughly to Rs200 billion every 10 days, National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance Chairman Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, told the Assembly Wednesday.
The SHC in March had directed the transport secretary and the city traffic police chief to immediately enforce a ban on the movement of heavy vehicles in the city during daytime.
The ban was initially introduced after a group of concerned citizens petitioned the Supreme Court, explaining how they were perturbed by the present situation of traffic in the city deteriorating day by day. They stated that the apex court had passed an order directing the traffic DIGP and the municipal authorities to immediately stop heavy vehicles from plying on roads in the daytime to maintain a smooth flow of traffic.
After the ban was enforced, goods carriers went on strike to protest the restriction, arguing it would result in extra costs because their vehicles would have to cover longer distances to reach their destinations on time.
Financial losses to the business community are also mounting as industrialists struggle to access raw material and other goods in a timely manner, Parliament was told.
About 7,000 to 8,000 containers and goods carriers full of raw materials, imported food and other items travel daily from the Karachi Port to Port Qasim, Landhi and Korangi industrial areas — a distance of about 35km.
In the meeting, Finance Parliamentary Secretary Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan lamented the “failure” of lawmakers in the Sindh government to resolve the issue, which has caused a massive logjam of at least 70,000 containers in the port city.
PPP lawmaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah responded saying the Sindh government is negotiating alternative routes with transporters.
