LAHORE, Jan 13: Transporters have threatened to go on a Punjab-wide strike if a clear-cut policy regarding shifting of truck stands from near the Walled City to a suitable location was not announced within 10 days.

Work on the construction of a government truck stand had also not been started, said All Pakistan Truck Trailer Motor Owners Association Senior Vice-President Lala Yasir Naseer Khan at a news conference at Sabzazar Truck Stand on Sunday.

Both the federal and Punjab governments had been collecting taxes from the transporters but not improving sanitary conditions at the General Truck Stand at Badami Bagh, New General Truck Stand at Ravi Road and Sabzazar Truck Stand.

Association Chairman Chaudhry Arshad said instead of solving their problems, the government was asking them to shift their businesses to private truck terminals away from the city.

Vice-Chairman Chaudhry Sher Ali and General Secretary Abdul Mateen Sheikh said thousands of people earned their livelihoods at the truck stands near the walled city and shifting the businesses to far-off places could render them jobless. They said thousands of people had already been rendered jobless after the shifting of Bakar Mandi from Bund Road to Shahpur Kanjran and the Kot Lakhpat fruit and vegetable market to Gajju Matta.

Vice-President Zahid Khan said instead of shifting the General Truck Stand at Badami Bagh, New General Truck Stand at Ravi Road and Sabzazar Truck Stand, facilities such as roads, sheds and toilets should be ensured there.

Rana Matloob, Chaudhry Talib and Malik Tanveeruddin said the transporters had forwarded their demands to the chief minister, the commissioner and the district coordination officer, but to no avail.

“We will be left with no option but to go on an indefinite strike across Punjab if our demands are not met within the next 10 days,” they said.