Former President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Siraj Kasim Teli has formed committees to prepare roadmap in order to deal with prevailing law and order situation in the city. The committee was formed during a meeting of business community, which was convened by Siraj Kasim Teli and Aqeel Karim Dhedi for brainstorming.
It was decided that the business community of Karachi including small traders are united to work together for the restoration of peace and tranquillity in Karachi and for this purpose, they will take all the necessary steps to protect lives and properties of Karachiites.
According to the sources the participants said if necessary measures were not taken immediately to ensure normalcy it would have far-reaching effects on trade and industry all over the country. They said that over 1200 people were killed in the city in just six months, which is an eye opener for the government and it must review all its policies to stop killings in the city.
They said that due to target killings in Karachi business activities have come to a complete halt. They said worst law and order situation in city's industrial areas is a threat to the industrialists as in some five zones comprising more than 10,000 production units, robberies, hijacking of consignments and kidnappings for ransom have become almost a routine business.
The business community and the authorities concerned recognise the rising trend of extortion in these areas, but little has been done to stop such activities, which not only discourages industrialists and investors but it is also a question mark over the performance of the law enforcement agencies. "The industrialists are always in a state of fear and most of them don't even receive phone calls from unknown numbers, thinking the call may be of an extortionist etc."
The meeting was attended by all the business and industrial community leaders from all the trade bodies, ie S.M. Muneer, Khalid Tawwab, Zubair Motiwala, Tahir Khaliq, Anjum Nisar, Talat Mahmood Acting President KCCI, Mian Abrar Ahmed, Younus Bashir, Ahmed Chinoy, Asif Aziz, Zahid Adamjee, Gulzar Firoz, Ahmed Shah, Jawed Karim, Rafiq Tumbi, Zia Ahmed Khan, Hafeez Aziz, Masood Naqi, Mian Zahid, Abdul Wahab Lakhany, Chairman-SITE Association, Syed Johar Ali Qandhari, Chairman-Korangi Association, Riaz Ahmed, Chairman-Landhi Association, Muhammad Irfan, Chairman-F.B. Area Association, Faraz Mirza, Chairman-North Karachi Association, Muhammad Ilyas Chairman-SITE Superhighway Association, Usman Ahmed, Chairman-Port Qasim Association and many other businessmen.