LCCI slams blockade of roads

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has slammed continuous violation of ban on road blockade and urged the Punjab and city district governments to take this matter seriously and ensure implementation of rules and regulations in letter and spirit.
The LCCI President Abdul Basit in a statement on Saturday said that despite rules, regulation and law, issue of road blockade is getting severe with every passing day and affecting trade, economic and social activities and every day life. The blockade of busy roads and highways has become a routine and damaging trade and economic activities besides mentally torturing the masses, he added.
Basit said that agitators block the busiest roads which cause traffic congestion and bring to halt all activities. The trading goods, buyers, students and even ambulances are stuck in traffic and cannot get through to the hospitals, he maintained. The business community is unable to understand that how protesters could get their rights through roads blockade, he said.
The LCCI president said that though the peaceful protest is a fundamental right but this does not mean that every procession or protest could be carried out at any given time and at any given location. As protesters have right to stage a peaceful protest, it is incumbent upon them to respect the rights of the others, he said and added that right to assemble for a cause should be permitted but the protesters should be made accountable if they break rules and regulations. It should be made clear to them that they would abide by the law of the land and refrain from impeding the flow of traffic, blocking the busiest roads and sidewalk, disturbing the public and affecting the trade and economic activities, he opined.
Basit said that the gravity of situation is getting severe with every passing day therefore the Punjab Assembly should react promptly and legislate immediately in this regard. He also urged the politicians to show maturity and quit the politics of protests as these acts encourage people to come to the roads and create problems of great magnitude.