The Transporters of Goods Association (TGA) has intensified its strike at Karachi ports, halting the movement of import/export cargoes from factories to seaports and vice versa nationwide.
The strike entered fourth day on Friday, with increasing threats to perishable items along with looming demurrages charged in the US dollar on cargoes.
Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (KCCI) President Jawed Bilwani said the transporters’ strike would multiply challenges in ramping up exports of Pakistan.
“Trump’s tariff has already sparked a global trade war that can make it difficult to chase export targets,” he said, urging the authorities concerned to pay head to the situation to avoid prolonging the strike and get the business back on routine.
Transporters went on strike against their growing differences on vehicle fitness with Sindh government, a source at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) confirmed to media.
The source insisted that the port authorities had nothing to do with the strike.
Transporters demand 6 months to resolve issues related to fitness certificates, heavy vehicles repairing, and installation of cameras.
Meanwhile, Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (FPCCI) former vice president, Khurram Ijaz said cargo movements at the Karachi ports had been partially affected in the first two days (Tuesday and Wednesday).
“They [transporters], however, completely stopped moving the cargo on Thursday through getting other transport associations agree to support the TGA,” Ijaz said.
He warned that if the situation remained the same and the authorities concerned did not pay head to bring transporters on the table for negotiations, the cargo ships would start leaving ports empty in the next couple of days.
The situation would also interrupt work at factories and start impacting imports and exports of the country in two to three days, Ijaz further said.
“The country is already facing issues in boosting exports and ramping up economic activities,” he mentioned.
Around 10,000 containers are transported daily within Karachi and across the country.
Moreover, FPCCI vice president Asif Sakhi said around 90% of import and export operations remained halted due to the strike.
“Ships waiting at anchorage may not be able to dock due to the lack of space at the ports, which will disrupt import and export orders,” Sakhi said. “Thousands of containers are stuck and cannot be moved due to the transporters’ protest, resulting in massive congestion at the terminals.”
According to the TGA president Tariq Gujar, around 10,000 containers are transported daily within Karachi and across the country.
A letter written by the TGA read they demanded six-month time to fix their vehicles like getting cameras installed on the vehicles, release the impounded vehicles, and stop the process of cancelling registration of some of the vehicles.
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