September 16, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 15, 1429

MULTAN, Sept 15: Transporters continued their protest on the fifth day consecutively against the imposition of ground rent (Tehbazarai Tax) by the city district government and threw traffic in Kutchery Chowk out of gear for around five hours here on Monday.

Drivers of rickshaws, vans and minibuses led by Rickshaw Association President Chaudhry Sofi Muhammad and Muttahida Shehri Mahaaz President Tariq Naeemullah blocked the busiest crossing by parking their vehicles and shouted slogans against District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar and demanded abolishing ground rent. They also demanded reducing the prices of LPG and CNG.

Addressing the protesters, Sofi Muhammad said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had abolished ground rent on rickshaws, tongas and carts but now a relative of a PML-N MNA had started collecting the tax and had collected Rs7 million in July and August and Rs1 million alone were collected from rickshaw drivers only in a week.

He said the contractor was charging Rs140 to Rs150 per rickshaw that was totally unjustified and warned that they would block all roads in Multan and hold a demonstration in front of the Prime

Minister’s Camp Office if the district government did not abolish the tax.

He said that continuous increase in LPG and CNG prices was affecting transporters as well as hitting common people hard.

He said if the prices of LPG and CNG were not reduced, rickshaw owners would be forced to starve.

Naeemullah said the district nazim was defaming the Punjab government by conspiring with the contractor, Mehboob Khan.

He said that the district nazim indeed had persuaded the contractor to get work order from a court, which he did.

He alleged that on the instructions of the district nazim, the lawyer of the district government did not object to the issuance of work order.

He said that tender of ground rent was issued for Rs13.2 million and in the beginning rickshaw owners were being charged Rs30 per month and vans, minibuses and tractor-trolley owners were being charged Rs50 but now the contractor had started charging Rs800 annually from rickshaw owners and Rs1,800 from other vehicles.

He said the district nazim was creating problems for transporters though the district coordination officer had stopped charging ground rent after declaring it illegal on the directives of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif two months ago.