KARACHI                 -           Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Haider Zaidi chaired an important meeting here at the Karachi Port Trust’s (KPT) head office on Saturday to resolve the issue of traffic congestion faced by the goods transporters on Keamari Road.

Besides the minister, the meeting was attended by Member of National Assembly (MNA) Abdul Qadir Patel, Federal Secretary Maritime Affairs Rizwan Ahmed, KPT Chairman Rear Admiral (r) Jamil Akhtar, Deputy Commissioner District West Fayyaz Solangi, SIDCL representative Samar Khan, SAPTL representative Captain Jamaluddin, PICT representative Khurram Khan, KICT representative Zafarullah Jan, representatives of goods transporters and senior officials of the KPT. Participants of the meeting pondered over finding solutions to the traffic problems being faced by goods transporters on Keamari Road due to traffic jams created by oil tankers.

During the meeting, KPT Chairman Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar informed members of the National Assembly–Syed Ali Haider Zaidi and Abdul Qadir Patel about the Lyari Expressway, which was primarily being built for the heavy vehicles, but was later made inaccessible for the heavy traffic coming from the Karachi Port.

Demanding the concerned authorities to get the parking area occupied by the oil tankers retrieved, the KPT chairman said that if this land was made available to KPT then traffic congestion could be eased to some extent. He said that encroachments had further added to the problem, and choked port area of the KPT.

He also informed the meeting that he had approached the law enforcement agencies, including the Sindh Rangers and Sindh Police, for the removal of oil tankers from the parking area.

Deputy Commissioner Fayyaz Solangi asked KPT Chairman Rear Admiral Jamil to nominate an official of the Trust in this regard so that he could remain in touch with him for solving the problem.

He offered to the KPT an immediate anti-encroachment drive in order to help it acquire the land it had lost to oil tankers. In response, the KPT chairman nominated General Manager Civil Works & Estate Sohail Anwer to remain in touch with the DC for such tasks. The meeting concluded on a positive note and it was decided that SIDCL representative Samar Khan will present the master plan for land utilization under the Layari Expressway in the next meeting scheduled to be held at KPT’s head office on February 1, 2020.

Ali Zaidi directed the representative of SIDCL to coordinate with the Deputy Commissioner in this regard.