ANWAR KHAN
KARACHI: Thousands of containers laden with export goods worth around $ 300 million have stockpiled at dry ports and industrial units in the wake of continuing transporters strike, exporter said on Tuesday.
The striking transporters stick to their demands and their wheel-jam protest has entered the sixth consecutive day, ceasing all import and export supplies to and from seaports.
“We [transporters] will not accept this time any verbal assurance from government to end our justified strike. We need only a government’s notification ensuring to meet all our demands,” a transporters’ leader Khalid Khan told Business Recorder.
Exporters showed fears over the prolonging deadlock between the government and transporters, saying thousands of containers are waiting for being transported to harbours. “Many shipments have failed to reach harbour in time,” they said.
According to seaport officials the import containers and bulk cargoes are piling up at harbours for lack of transportation. The strike collapsed entire logistics chain in the country, exporters said.
Talking to Business Recorder on phone from Sialkot Chief Coordinator, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Prgmea), Ijaz A. Khokhar, feared that more exporters may lose their shipments if transportation failed to resume immediately.
“There is a big fear of cancellation of export orders, expiring of L/Cs and loss of global orders ahead of major Christmas season in the west,” he said, appealing to the Prime Minister to consider the protesting exporters justified demands.
In a bid to normalize goods transportations, Chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA), Javed Bilwani sent a letter to the Prime Minister to express the exporters concerns for continuing strike.
“We [exporters] are constrained to invite your kind attention to the most serious issue of the transporters’ strike in Karachi,” said the letter, fearing that “due to this continued strike country is losing billions of dollars”.
It said the strike has suspended the textile and other export shipments which are meant for Christmas and New Year events in the US and EU. Any further delays in shipments, the letter, said the exporters will have to bear additional 400 percent airfreight cost to retain the global market share for future.
On the other hand, Khalid Khan said that “none of the elected representatives of the government has so far approached the protesting transporters to help reach a fresh agreement to end the strike with assurances for problems resolutions”.
He confirmed that Governor Sindh has, however, assured transporters of redressing their problems “Yes Governor Sindh held a meeting with us but we need a government’s notification to end the strike. Verbal assurances have no significance when there is no worth of written agreements to the government itself”.
Former Federal Ports and Shipping Minister, Senator Babar Khan Ghori and Senator Abbas Afridi had singed agreement with transporters to end their strike with assurances of solving their all long-running problems, some eight months back.
“Since then the government has taken no steps to implement its own agreement as customs and police officials extortions, hijacking of loaded trucks on highways continue to increase with each passing day,” he said.
According to Karachi Port Trust (KPT) officials, around 15 vessels berthed at the harbour on Tuesday dealing in different cargoes totalling 60,050 metric tons. “Some 48,950 metric tons of import cargoes and 11100 metric tons of export cargoes were handled despite the transporters strike,” they said the handled cargoes were: DAP, seeds, general goods, etc.
Ijaz Khokhar criticised the federal government for not taking the transporters strike seriously at the peak export season for textile exporters. “”None from the government is taking the issue seriously,” he said.
He also expected an immediate intervention from the President of Pakistan to help end the continuing strike, leaving all supplies to halt. “Pakistan’s trade is virtually cut-off from rest of the world since the transporters are on a strike,” he said.
He claimed that around 5000 loaded containers have stuck up at seaports, dry ports and at industrial units across the country
PHMA letter urged the Prime Minster to help end the continuing strike to resume exports to the world markets.
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