July 28, 2008	Monday	Rajab 24, 1429

PESHAWAR, July 27: The truckers in NWFP went on strike for indefinite period on Sunday against taxes on petroleum products and undue fines imposed on them by motorways police.

All Pakistan Goods Transport Truck Owners Association president Khwaja Mohammad Mohmand told Dawn that strike would continue across the country till acceptance of their demands by provincial and federal governments.

He said that all associations were observing complete strike across the country and 1,200 trucks had been parked on Grand Trunk Road at Khairabad in protest. He said that drivers had also parked their trucks in Peshawar and other districts of the NWFP.

The association has demanded of the government to exempt petroleum products from all taxes, direct the National Highway Authority to abolish weighting measuring system on main highways and stop motorway police from imposing undue fines on them.

Mr Mohmand said that former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had issued directives to the NHA that distance between two toll plazas should be 163 kilometres, but the authority had set up toll plazas at a distance of 30 kilometers. The NHA, he said, charged Rs100 from each truck on every toll plaza.

He alleged that motorways police were imposing undue fine on trucks carrying construction material including bricks and concrete from Peshawar to Islamabad. He said that NWFP government had fixed 65 per cent commission for the traffic police as a result police was issuing illegal challan to the drivers to increase revenue.

He asked the provincial government to abolish commission system and direct traffic police to stop illegal challan. The association president also appealed to the prime minister to look into the matter and resolve genuine demands of the drivers.

NOWSHERA: A complete wheel jam strike was observed on the call of All Transport Ittehad in Nowshera on Sunday. The Nowshera-Mardan road, Nowshera-Peshwar road were blocked for all kind of vehicular traffic.

The supply of food items to various districts were suspended as dozens of trucks trapped in different areas due to the strike. The general traffic remained thin and few passenger coaches plying on the roads were asked to remain indoors from Monday for indefinite period.

The transporters would a stage sit-in on major roads from dawn to dusk, the transporters’ leaders said, adding the vehicles violating the strike call would be set on fire. The provincial senior vice president of All Transport Goods, Haji Khyber Khan and provincial spokesman of the All Transport Ittehad, Zakir Hayat, along with hundreds of transporters took to the GT Road and block it for traffic.

All Sarhad Goods Transport provincial chief Haji Noor Mohammad, Pir Ali Khattak and Hameed Awan leading a baton-wielding procession of hundreds of transporters reached Khairabad Pul and stopped scores of trucks laden with food and vegetables stuff.

MARDAN: On the joint call of passengers coach association and bus unions the wheel remained jam in Mardan and both the roads and stands were presenting a deserted look.

The transporters announced that the strike would continue till acceptance of their demands. The commuters faced severe problems in the absence of traffic as they could not reach their destinations in the far lung areas.

The members of transport unions erected blockades at various points on roads in the district. They also broke glasses of several vehicles by hurling stones at them.

They also scuffled with police when the latter tried to remove barricades erected in front of the house of chief minister near Premier Sugar Mills Mardan. The police baton charged the protesters resulting in injuries to two of them.

SWABI: All Goods Transport Owners Association Swabi converted the partial wheel-jam strike into complete strike after 1pm here on Sunday.

The truckers remained off the road since morning but other transporters were plying their vehicles in various parts of the city, tehsil Chota Lahor and tehsil Topi.