KARACHI: Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Thursday formally inaugurated the Zulfikarabad oil terminal on the National Highway following the recent directive of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The city mayor claimed to have built the oil tankers’ terminal project on modern lines so that it could become example for other provinces as well.

“I personally pay thanks to the Supreme Court of Pakistan for issuing the orders regarding shifting of tankers from different city areas to the terminal and the Sindh chief minister, who extended monetary cooperation by approving the summary that was sent to him,” said the city mayor. 

“I hope that the problems of the city will be solved jointly as this oil tankers’ parking terminal has been built on over 200 acres of land and will be extended to 400 acres.”

Mr Akhtar said that with the completion of the oil tankers’ terminal, there would be smooth flow of traffic and this was a long-awaited demand of the citizens. 

The project was completed by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) despite limited resources and funds, he added.

“We have made this oil tankers’ terminal functional and now it is the responsibility of the owners and operators of the oil tankers to let it run in a proper manner,” said the mayor of Karachi. 

“Despite hurdles created by different departments and some legal complications, we have been able to complete this terminal. The oil tankers’ parking facility has the capacity of parking 3,200 oil tankers, while for the drivers all facilities will be provided here with an infrastructure to accommodate over 10,000 people.” 

This terminal will have a police kiosk along with 36-foot-wide road to facilitate smooth movement of heavy vehicles.

The Supreme Court earlier this month had warned the provincial and city authorities of stern action if they failed to ensure the shifting of oil tankers from Shireen Jinnah Colony to the Zulfikarabad oil terminal “within one week”. 

The SC bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed and also comprising Justices Maqbool Baqar and Sajjad Ali Shah, gave this directive while hearing an application of the KMC administrator who had sought the court’s direction to the Rangers and police to ensure the shifting of the oil tankers to the Zulfikarabad terminal. The petitioner stated that the tanker operators had been resisting shifting the vehicles from Shireen Jinnah Colony to the terminal.

Along with the Karachi mayor, Deputy Mayor Dr Arshad Abdullah Vohra, Additional Home Secretary Dr Badaruddin, the chief of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Imran-ul-Haq Shaikh, elected representatives of the local government and senior officials of the Sindh government also attended the opening ceremony.

The project would help move more than 3,000 oil tankers from Shireen Jinnah Colony to the National Highway easing traffic congestion in the neighbourhood and adjoining areas. 

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2017