RAWALPINDI: The business community of the city on Monday appealed to the government to ban political activities on main roads, saying that they have suffered losses amounting to millions of rupees during the last week due to ongoing protest of some religious organisations that has blocked the Faizabad interchange.
Talking to reporters, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President Zahid Latif Khan said that Murree road and Islamabad expressway were the main arteries of communication between the twin cities, and business activities were severely jeopardised due to the sit-in of religious groups.
Khan said the protests on main roads were tantamount to undermining the country’s economic standing, which gave rise to lawlessness and poverty in the country. He demanded the government to resolve the situation at the earliest, adding that traders could not afford to lose business due to continuous protests.
The RCCI president said that holding protest was the democratic right of every citizen, but such activities should be held at specific places and not near business centres. He said that due to protests on most main roads, students could not reach their schools in time while patients were also unable to reach hospitals.
Khan said that the traders would suffer huge losses if the protests continued for more days. He urged the government to allocate a separate place for such activities to provide relief to the business community.
