Transporters announce to resume services in Karachi

KARACHI: Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) has announced that transporters will resume intra-city public transport services from Monday.

Addressing a press conference today, KTI president Irshad Bukhari warned of staging a sit-in if they were not permitted to operate vehicles on the roads.

Bukhari pointed out that the provincial government had announced the lockdown on March 18 and on the orders of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, the transporters had suspended their operations.

He said that the drivers and fare collectors were daily-wage workers, the transporters should have been paid a relief package by the government if suspending public transport was crucial.

Stressing the financial crisis being faced by transporters, Bukhari said that their families were starving, so the CM Murad Ali Shah and other ministers should not oppose our decision, he added.

He said earlier Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had asked transporter to devise standard operating procedures (SOPs) for their services. He said the transporter representatives have finalized SOPs according to Sindh government orders.

Bukhari pointed out that the SOPs devised by the government were being ignored everywhere in the markets.

He reiterated that the transporters would follow all the SOPs, including the use of face masks and sanitizers, adding that they would disown those who failed to do so.

On Friday, Sindh Transport Minister Awais Shah had said that the provincial government would decide on reopening public transport tomorrow (Saturday) during a meeting of the provincial task force on COVID-19 and with the consultation of doctors.

While talking to media he said a final decision to resume public transport services would be taken in the meeting of the provincial task force on coronavirus and after consulting doctors.

Earlier this month, the government of Sindh had refused to resume transport services while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had announced the reopening of all public transport, following in Punjab’s footsteps.