May 15, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429

KARACHI, May 14: Livestock traders ended their strike continuing for the last 10 days and meat merchants agreed to withdraw their strike call for Thursday after successful talks with the district coordination officer of Karachi.

Giving the details of the four-hour-long meeting held on Wednesday, Livestock Traders Welfare Association representative Abdul Lateef Qureishi said that both the associations had decided to temporarily withdraw their strikes for 45 days in response to the positive outcome of the meeting held with DCO Javed Hanif on Wednesday.

“The DCO has given us a letter which is addressed to the city government-hired contractor Abdul Khaliq. The letter states that the Rs50 fee being collected at the entry points of Karachi on account of medical examination of animals being brought into the city is being suspended forthwith for 45 days,” said Qureishi, adding that the DCO had also told them that the final decision in this respect would be taken by the city council as the tax was levied by the local body.

Mr Hanif, he said, had also assured them that a committee comprising government officials and representatives of livestock traders would be set up to resolve the issue over the Rs150 fee, which, he claimed, was being taken from all animals though it was supposed to be taken only on milch animals.

“Our demand for removing the check-post at Nooriabad on the Super Highway and relocating it within the limits of Karachi has also been accepted,” he said, explaining that the location of the post was creating a lot of problems for traders. “Police in Nooriabad never entertained any of our complaints over the threatening attitude of city government-hired contractors sitting on the Super Highway on the grounds that the matter didn’t fall in their jurisdiction,” he added.

Talking to Dawn, Iqbal Qureshi of the Meat Merchants Welfare Association said that meat merchants had called for suspension of meat supplies in the city when the city government officials started collecting a fine from shopkeepers selling meat at exorbitant rates.

“This was completely unjustified. How could we sell meat at normal rates when there was an acute shortage of meat? Besides, the city government was charging double fees on account of medical examination of animals; first at the entry points and later at the slaughter house,” he said.