President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), A. Abdullah Zaki has urged the government to immediately hold negotiations with representatives of goods carriers, who went on an indefinite strike on Thursday to protest against the non-acceptance of their demands.
In a statement issued here, Zaki said that the business community cannot afford an indefinite strike by goods carriers at this point in time as it would terribly affect goods supplies within and outside the country. Prolong strike along with forthcoming holidays of 9th and 10th Muharram-ul-Haram will further delay the inland supplies and export consignments, besides resulting in severe containers' congestion at the ports in the country. The immovable containers loaded with agricultural commodities will also result in shortages of these commodities in the local markets and encourage black marketers to take advantage of the situation, he added.
Representatives of goods carriers complained that the truck stand outside the Karachi Fisheries has been illegally allotted to some builders. They further complained that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), despite repeated requests, has not reduced the rate of advance income tax collected from goods carriers.
He said that more than 5,000 goods carriers have come to halt in Karachi due to this indefinite strike and if it continues for long and spreads all over the country, it will not only cause losses to the industrialists but will also have a grave impact on Pakistan's economy.
President KCCI also advised the representatives of goods carriers that if they have any issue with FBR, Karachi Port Trust, or Police for issuing exorbitant challans, these can be settled through table talks but abruptly announcing an indefinite strike was not a wise move. He said that KCCI will never support such strikes but will only welcome table talks and is ready to provide KCCI's platform for resolving these issues.-PR