KARACHI: Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have confiscated over 10,000 containers to block thoroughfares in different parts of the country, said transporters on Wednesday, as Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F), a religio-political party, prepares to hold a massive rally in Islamabad against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration on Thursday.
“The container with vehicles impounded are loaded with food stuff, medicines and chemicals,” President of Karachi Goods Carrier Rana Aslam told Arab News. “More than 10,000 containers have been confiscated to block roads, causing a substantial decline in the shipping activities at the country’s ports.”
Transporters complained that the authorities were putting millions of dollars of export orders at stake by impounding containers carrying goods that were to be sent abroad.
“The ongoing political situation has completely broken the import-export cycle. No containers from Punjab is coming to Sindh. Likewise, transporters are not taking goods to Punjab, fearing seizure of vehicles for road blocks,” Senior Vice President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said.
“It is causing huge losses of billions of rupees as exports are being delayed,” he added.
Textile exporters say they are assessing the extent of losses suffered by them due to delays in shipments. “Exporters are contacting us and we will assess the situation and losses to our members,” Chairman Pakistan Apparel Forum Muhammad Jawed Bilwani told Arab News.
“The government was repeatedly advised to get old containers to deal with anti-government agitations but no action was taken, except in Karachi where few containers were acquired by the police to deal with such demonstrations,” he added. “This sends a negative signal to the world community and importers of Pakistani products.”
Transporters say they are suffering huge losses due to delay in moving containers to their destinations.
“We are paying $100 per day rent to the shipping lines for the containers,” Chairman Punjab Goods Transport Association Maqbool Hussain told Arab News.
“Apart from that, the transporters are also suffering losses of around Rs15,000-20,000 per vehicle on account of salaries to the staff and other expenses,” he added.
“The government announced a compensation, but so far no payments have been received as transporters are facing losses in millions of rupees,” Spokesman of All Pakistan Oil Tankers Association Israr Ahmed Shinwari told Arab News.
He said that transporters had gone on strike against the confiscation of their containers without any compensation.
Some transporters informed their containers had been released from the areas where the JUI-F Azadi (freedom) March caravan had passed. Still they said they were reluctant to carry goods upcountry.
Pakistani transporters say police seize thousands of containers ahead of protests
Pakistani transporters say police seize thousands of containers ahead of protests
- Many impounded containers carry food, medicines and chemicals, causing millions of rupees of losses to business community
- Transporters complain the ongoing political situation is causing logical problems, putting huge export orders at stake
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
