Lahore: Punjab Additional Inspector General (AddI. IG) Operations Asim Gulzar said on Wednesday that there would be no compromise on protection of human lives and an indiscriminate crackdown against violations of traffic laws would continue.
He was speaking during a meeting with a delegation of office-bearers of Goods and Transport Associations from Punjab and Sindh at the Central Police Office Lahore, where both sides agreed to formulate a joint course of action to resolve issues faced by the transporters’ community.
Punjab DIG Traffic Waqas Nazir, DIG PHP Faisal Ali Raja, CTO Syed Abdul Raheem Shirazi, Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) officers, senior traffic officers and other senior police officials were present in the meeting.
According to Punjab Police spokesperson, representatives of the transporters’ organisations appreciated Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz’s vision for traffic reforms aimed at protecting human lives. Police and traffic officials also appreciated the transporters’ decision to defer their call for a strike.
The transporters’ representatives presented their charter of demands and apprised the senior police officers of issues faced by the goods transport sector. The meeting discussed actionable proposals for resolving the issues and agreed to develop a joint mechanism through mutual consultation.
Addl. IG Asim Gulzar said Punjab Police were taking concrete measures to permanently resolve legitimate issues of the transporters’ community. On the directions of IGP Punjab, committees were being formed through mutual consultation to address the concerns of transporters.
He said joint awareness sessions would be organised to educate transport and goods vehicle drivers about road safety, vehicle capacity requirements and traffic laws.
The Addl IG said the doors of Punjab Police offices were always open for resolving legitimate concerns of the transporters, who could contact designated focal persons for assistance.
He said coordination between Punjab Police and transporters was being further strengthened for better traffic management, adding that protection of human lives during travel remained the top priority.
DIG PHP Faisal Ali Raja said overtaking, overloading, overspeeding and wrong parking by dumper drivers on highways were among the major causes of accidents. He said transporters themselves did not want drivers responsible for repeated accidents and fatalities to return to the highways.
DIG Traffic Waqas Nazir said action would be taken against officials or individuals found using FIRs, unnecessary challans and fines as a means of exploiting transporters.
He said a scheme for facilitating the easy acquisition of Heavy Transport Vehicle (HTV) licences by heavy vehicle drivers would soon be introduced. He added that a meeting would also be arranged with the provincial minister and secretary for transport to resolve transporters’ issues relating to Excise, Customs and other departments.
Waqas Nazir further said the scope of the One App application would be expanded from major cities to smaller cities to facilitate citizens and transporters.
The delegation comprised office-bearers of the Central President of the Pakistan Transport Council, Pakistan Mini Mazda Association, Mazda Goods Transport Association, New Ittehad Truck Owners Association, All Pakistan Goods Transport Workers Welfare Union, Goods Transport Carrier Association and National Alliance Transport.
