KARACHI, 31 March 2005 — Transport workers held a countrywide wheel-jam strike yesterday after talks with the provincial government over fuel prices collapsed.
They also held a massive rally at Shireen Jinnah Colony oil terminal.
It was led by Chairman of Supreme Council of All-Pakistan Transporters and All-Pakistan Oil Tanker Owners Association Mir Mohammad Yousuf Shahwani.
The protesters demanded that the prices of petrol and diesel be brought down by Rs.14 on a priority basis. They also demanded removal of toll tax and protection from what they called the atrocities of motorway police.
Meanwhile, the inauguration of a Chinese-financed deep-sea port has been delayed due to security concern, sources said.
“The inauguration of the sea port has been delayed as security fears mean Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will be unable to go there next week during a visit to Pakistan, officials said.
The $248 million port at Gawadar, 480 km west of Karachi, was completed in January, 12 weeks ahead of schedule.
Authorities had planned its formal inauguration during Wen’s visit next week, but Pakistani officials and an official of the Chinese Embassy said he would not be going there. A Pakistani minister said security worries were the main reason for the cancellation of Wen’s trip.
In another unrelated development, five rockets slammed into open fields near a base housing hundreds of Pakistani soldiers in a restive tribal region, but there were no casualties, an official said yesterday.
It was not clear who was behind the attack late Tuesday against troops on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The security official said soldiers had launched a search for the assailants.
“We only know that the rockets fell very close to the army camp and soldiers also returned fire,” the official said.
