Punjab Police and goods transporters agree on a joint course of action to resolve issues, Welcoming the transporters’ decision to defer their strike, joint awareness sessions on road safety and traffic laws will be held, There will be no compromise on the protection of human lives; indiscriminate crackdown against violations of traffic laws will continue: Additional IG Operations Asim Gulzar.
A delegation of office-bearers of Goods and Transport Associations from Punjab and Sindh visited the Central Police Office Lahore and, on the directions of IG Punjab Abdul Kareem, met Additional IG Operations Asim Gulzar, senior traffic officers, PHP officers and other senior police officials. During the meeting, detailed discussions were held on various matters, including issues faced by transporters, enforcement of traffic laws and road safety. Punjab Police spokesperson said that the delegation of transporters’ organizations appreciated Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz’s vision for traffic reforms aimed at protecting human lives. Senior traffic and police officers also appreciated the decision of the transporters’ organizations to defer their call for a strike. Representatives of the Goods and Transport Associations apprised the senior police and traffic officers of their charter of demands and the issues faced by the transporters’ community. The meeting presented actionable proposals for resolving the transporters’ issues, while Punjab Police and goods transporters agreed to formulate a joint course of action through mutual understanding to resolve the issues.
Additional IG Operations Asim Gulzar said that Punjab Police is taking concrete measures to permanently resolve the legitimate issues of the transporters’ community. On the directions of IG Punjab Abdul Kareem, committees are being formed through mutual consultation to address the transporters’ issues. He said that joint awareness sessions would be organized to educate transport and goods vehicle drivers about road safety, capacity requirements and traffic laws. The doors of Punjab Police offices are always open for resolving the transporters’ issues, and transporters can contact the designated focal person at any time for the resolution of their legitimate concerns. Additional IG Operations further said that coordination between Punjab Police and transporters is being made more effective for better traffic management. There can be no compromise on the protection of human lives during travel, and an indiscriminate crackdown against violations of traffic laws will continue. DIG PHP Faisal Ali Raja said that overtaking, overloading, overspeeding and wrong parking by dumper drivers on highways are among the major causes of accidents. Transporters do not want dumper drivers responsible for repeated accidents and deaths to be allowed to return to the highways.
DIG Traffic Punjab Waqas Nazir said that action would be taken against those responsible for using FIRs, unnecessary challans and fines as a means of exploiting transporters. He said that a scheme for facilitating the easy acquisition of HTV licenses by heavy transport drivers would soon be introduced. DIG Traffic Punjab further said that a meeting would be arranged with the Provincial Minister and Secretary for Transport to resolve transporters’ issues related to Excise, Customs and other departments. He also assured that the scope of the One App application would be expanded from major cities to smaller cities. DIG Traffic Punjab Waqas Nazir, DIG PHP Faisal Ali Raja, CTO Lahore Syed Abdul Raheem Shirazi, AIG Operations and other senior officers were present at the meeting. The delegation included office-bearers of the Central President of the Pakistan Transport Council, Pakistan Mini Mazda Association, Mazda Goods Transport Association, New Ittehad Truck Owners Association, All Pakistan Goods Transport Workers Welfare Union, Goods Transport Carrier Association and National Alliance Transport.
(Daily Notable)
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