Goods carriers and transporters on Friday went on a three-day strike against the persistent increase in the prices of petroleum products and called for the restoration of the old system of the fixation of the prices of the commodity. The strike call was given by All Pakistan Goods Transport & Truck Owners Associations while the bus owners also joined the strike to express solidarity with the truckers through keeping their vehicles off the roads in the province. Most of the vehicles remained off the roads. However, the intra-city local transport remained as usual.
Due to the strike of the transporters, the commuters have to face a lot of problems in catch buses and wagons of the intra-provincial routes. The wagons stand for the northern parts of the province were presenting a deserted look as the helpless commuters were looking for the vehicles of their destinations.
The Sarhad Transport Association has announced full support for the truckers in their protest against the persistent increase in the prices of the petroleum products.
They have rejected the new system of the fixation of the petroleum product prices and have called for the restoration of the previous procedure.
The charter of the demands of the transporters also include complaints against the highhandedness of the various toll plazas on G.T. Road, who they charged them for charging excessive fees from the them. Similarly, they complain that despite payment of Rs 4000 token tax, they are being fined for hundreds of rupees by the department concerned.
"We have 3,400 registered trucks with our association running on various routes of Sarhad, Punjab and Balochistan and non of our truck have loaded any good," a spokesman of the truck owners association had stated.
When Business Recorder contacted, the office of the Local Mini Bus Owners Association, a spokesman, Yar Mohammad said that the transporters had been given a call for the three-day wheel-jam strike. However, he said that in case of the failure of the government in acceptance of their demands, the transporters are determined to prolong it for indefinite period.
He was of the view that due to the strike of the transporters, Peshawar remained cut off of the other parts of the country.