Strike call withdrawn: Sindh government assures transporters of Rs 80 million compensation

Sindh government has assured the transporters community of compensating the losses faced by them during the deadly violence in the city after the murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider. The assurance was given to the transporters by Sindh Minister for Transport Akhtar Hussain Jadoon at his office on Monday, sources said.
President Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) Irshad Hussain Bukhari led the transporters' delegation. "The Sindh government is well aware of the losses faced by the transporters community during recent violence and we will compensate them", the sources quoted the minister as saying.
Sindh government would compensate the transporters after the Eidul Fitr and Super Flood crosses the province, the minister said, adding that the chief minister Sindh would also hold a meeting with the transporters after Eid. After the assurance by the minister, the KTI has withdrawn its wheel-jam strike call for August 26, 27 and 28, they said.
Talking to Business Recorder, KTI chief said that the strike call had been called off after the assurance of the transport minister, Akhtar Jadoon. He said that the transporters were seeking Rs 80 million as compensation for the vehicles burnt, drivers shot dead and injured in the violence that erupted after the killing of MQM MPA Raza Haider.
At least ten drivers of the buses lost their lives and 25 sustained serious injuries in recent violence besides at least 50 mini-buses and coaches were set alight by the miscreants in different areas of the city. The cost of the vehicles ranges from Rs 1 million to Rs 2 million, he added.
The families of deceased drivers be provided with compensation of at least Rs 3 lac and Rs 50,000 for those injured, he said, adding that at least Rs 1 million be provided to the transport for the losses they had faced in shape of damages to their vehicles. Bukhari said that the transporters withdrew the strike call announced for August 26 onward till September 26, 2010.