KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi has demanded of the government to bring a mass transit system in the city and restore green busses, besides regularization of Qingqis, CNG rickshaws on small routes.
While addressing a press conference at JI Karachi headquarter on Wednesday , JI Karachi Amir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that JI would fight a legal battle for regularization of CNG rickshaws on particular routes due to the gravity of the issue that directly affects some 20 million commuters on the roads of Karachi.
He said that SHC orders were misinterpreted and twisted as the court had order to bring rickshaws in legal framework.
The JI leader raised the point that the order of the Sindh High Court (SHC) was misinterpreted and twisted, apparently just to mint some illicit amount to please corrupt high-ups.
He said that the JI has been analyzing the legal points of the case, besides gathering stakeholders on a platform. In this regard, a Jirga would be held at the JI headquarters on August, 15, 2015.
The JI leader highlighted that the court, in its ruling, had ordered to bring the rickshaws within the legal limits and had sought a report on the culmination of the process. Instead of implementing the court verdict in letter and spirit, a ruthless campaign of impounding rickshaws has been initiated during which even those rickshaws were seized which had been working within legal framework, fulfilling all formalities, including route permit.
Talking about the background of the issue, he said that after abandoning several projects of mass transit, majority of commuters in Karachi depend upon these rickshaws for transportation.
He further said that millions of people, majority of whom belongs to lower middle class, were being facilitated by the Qingqis and other CNG rickshaws, while it was quite illogical to end this means of transportation with providing any other alternative.
The JI leader further said that large busses on the pattern of “Green Busses” introduced by former city Nazim Niamatullah Khan, are the only solution of the traffic issues in Karachi. He demanded of the government to realize the gravity of the issue and bring at least 1,000 large busses on roads of the city within three months.
Further stressing the need of busses, he said that now the total number of busses and mini busses operating in the city, is around 10,000, while four long years ago, 22,313 busses were operating in Karachi.
He expressed his sorrow that mass transit projects, initiated by the JI’s Nazim, which had to facilitate millions of Karachites were left in limbo and then terminated by the regime of Muttahida Qaumi Movement just because political prejudice.
Engr. Naeem said that there is no doubt that these rickshaws generated legal and discipline related complaints but it was the duty of the administrative tools of the government to resolve these issues. At other hand mini busses, running on the roads, have been causing same problems, he said and raised the question that if all mini busses in Karachi have fitness certificates?
He also criticized the decision regarding change of color and removing CNG kit from school vans and said that such measures would increase financial burden on students and their parents.
