KARACHI: The President of Orangi Traders Association (OTA), Abdullah Batra, has sought KCCI's assistance over issues ranging from power load-shedding to the law and order situation.
He told a meeting of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) that the area spanning between the Abdullah Girls College and the entrance to Orangi Town was the most sensitive area where street crimes were being widely reported, "but the police department has failed miserably to deal with the outlaws who are looting the poor masses in broad daylight".
KCCI Senior Vice President M. Saqib Goodluck said that the chamber would try its best to get the issues relating to infrastructure, electricity and law and order resolved by taking them up with the relevant departments. Saqib Goodluck advised the OTA delegation to regularly participate in KCCI's meetings, avail chamber's membership and get involved in numerous subcommittees which would provide them with a perfect platform for highlighting their issues and getting them instantly resolved.
The KCCI SVP further advised the traders to strictly comply with the SoPs notified by the government, particularly those relating to business hours, in order to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic as it was being feared that the second wave of this life-threatening diseases might prove more dangerous than the first one. He said that any law and order issue being faced by the shopkeepers of Orangi Town could also be brought to the KCCI's notice, which would be dealt with on a priority basis through KCCI's law and order subcommittee and the Police-Chamber Liaison Committee. KCCI Vice President Shamsul Islam Khan urged the OTA delegation to unite under the KCCI's umbrella so that common infrastructure issues being faced by all the trade associations, small businesses and industries etc. could be discussed and a single forceful voice could be raised.
Special Committee for Small Traders Chairman Majeed Memon also underscored the need for bringing all the issues to KCCI's notice.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020