KARACHI: Businessmen Group (BMG) Chairman Zubair Motiwala and Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) President Muhammad Idrees have assured that KCCI will take up all the issues being faced by traders/shopkeepers of Jodia Bazaar with relevant quarters and will try its best to get them amicably resolved so that the traders and shopkeepers, who are an integral part of KCCI, could smoothly carry out their activities without any hassle.

The assurance was given at a meeting during the visit of a delegation from Jodia Bazaar which was led by Haroon Agar to congratulate the newly elected office bearers, while highlighting numerous issues, Leader of Jodia Bazaar delegation Haroon Agar pointed out that skim milk, which was not a luxury item, was subjected to imposition of Sales Tax which is a serious anomaly that raises the cost of this important household products.

Hence, the Federal Board of Revenue should be approached with a request to look into the possibility of exempting this product from Sales Tax, he added. He further mentioned that due to massive number of Kunda Connection all over Jodia Bazaar, the area frequently undergoes massive load shedding every day which creates a lot of problems even for the legitimate consumers of KE who, despite paying all their outstanding dues, have to suffer badly due to someone else's misconduct.

"KCCI must take up this matter with higher authorities at KE so that the utility service provider could be convinced to minimize load shedding and remove all Kunda connections in this area where massive trading activities of up to billions of rupees take place every day.

He further highlighted the grievances being faced by traders of Jodia Bazaar due to massive smuggling of various products including milk, spices and plastic etc. which were entering Pakistan in bulk quantities from Afghanistan via Chaman, making the legal trade of all these products uncompetitive in the local markets.

Senior Vice President KCCI Abdul Rehman Naqi, Vice President Qazi Zahid Hussain and KCCI Managing Committee also attended the meeting whereas Jodia Bazaar delegation comprised of Waseem-ur-Rehman, Hanif Pochi, Najam Chughtai, Arif Lakhani, Asif Haji Karim, Javed Qadri, Aslam Nathani and others.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021