Muhammad Shakeel Munir President, Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh Senior Vice President and Muhammad Faheem Khan Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) have shown great concerns over the seizure of loaded containers by the government authorities to deal with the long march and appealed to the government to refrain from this practice as it would badly affect the trade and industrial activities, cause shortage of goods and items in manufacturing units as well as in the markets and create unnecessary difficulties for the common man.
Muhammad Shakeel Munir said that daily a large number of containers bring goods from Karachi to Islamabad and Northern Areas including perishable items, but it is very unfortunate that whenever there is a long march or sit-in in Islamabad, the loaded containers are seized, which causes great losses to the business community. He said that the government authorities have again started to confiscate the loaded containers, which is not a wise approach as the unloading of perishable items and other goods on the way without allowing them to reach destinations would cause losses to the business community besides creating shortage of fruits, vegetables and other items for the consumers.
ICCI President said that if it is essential for the government to use containers as part of its strategy to deal with the long march, it should use empty containers and not seize the loaded containers as it would have harmful consequences for the businesses and the economy. He requested the government authorities to immediately release all the loaded containers confiscated so far to avoid unnecessary losses to the business community. He said that the confiscation of containers would also cause problems for importers and exporters and slow the economic activities, therefore, all possible efforts should be made to spare the loaded containers from confiscation and they should be allowed to reach their destinations.