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Drivers union vow to continue strike
By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: The leaders of drivers union Torkhow Chitral have
expressed their determination to continue their strike till the
restoration of the old fares to the area which had been fixed a
year before when the rate of diesel was 38 rupees a litre.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Qurban Jalal,
Mohammad Qasim , Mumtaz Ahmed and others said that the local
administration did not take the transporters into confidence while
fixing the fares for the area but arbitrarily. They said that the
newly fixed rates were far below the ones when diesel was available
at 80 percent cheaper rate some years ago. The driver leaders said
that on one hand the government has fixed the rate of 312 per 100
kg for the transportation of wheat to the Torkhow area from Chitral
in food department but the drivers charge only 120 rupees for the
same weight from the passengers. They said that the government
should first look into the large-scale embezzlement in the
transportation of wheat against the exorbitant rates. They
expressed their dismay over the alleged apathetic attitude of the
local administration towards the issue and said that no government
functionary has so far approached them to settle the matter while
the strike has entered its seventh day and the commuters are
suffering worst. They said that the transport fares must be
rationalized taking into account all the hard realities of the
market. |
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