MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 6: Local transporters have threatened to stage a strike if the government fails to raise public transport fares by Jan 8.

The warning came at a meeting of the Transport Operators Union held here on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by union's president Naseer Khan Mughal.

The meeting said that fares had been frozen despite successive increases in petroleum prices during the past two years. It claimed that the AJK High Court had held that the district administration and transporters could increase fares following the increase in the price of petroleum products.

Transporters also urged the government to constitute a committee to ensure timely payment of compensation to accident victims, including the vehicle owners. Stressing the need for road repair, the meeting also pointed out that most of the roads in Muzaffarabad district were in dilapidated condition despite the government classifying them as being in category 'A'.

Transporters said that the government should levy the same token fee and taxes as were being paid by their counterparts in Gilgit-Baltistan. It also urged the government to provide them interest-free loans by declaring the transport sector an industry.

Transporters claimed that they were paying heavy taxes but they were getting nothing in return from the government which was aggravating their problems.