KARACHI, Nov 17: Goods transporters called off their 11-day strike on Sunday after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar accepted their demands and assured them that compensation would be paid for vehicles torched on Dec 27, 2007 in the wake of the assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.

The transporters decided to call off the strike at a meeting with the minister in Governor House which lasted for over two hours. Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Senator Kamran Michael and Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon were also present.

United Goods Transporters Alliance chairman Ghulam Yasin Khan, who led a 20member delegation at the meeting, told Dawn that all issues had been sorted out in an amicable way and Mr Dar had directed the provincial and federal departments to issue relevant notifications and SROs by Monday. One of the SROs would be about reduction in the rate ofadvance income tax to Rs2 from Rs3 per kg to be paid by the transporters.

He said that Mr Dar accepted in principle their demand for compensation and assured them that the government would look into their claims against 966 torched vehicles amounting to around Rs240.75 million at the earliest.

The meeting was also attended by the chief secretary and home secretary of Sindh, commissioner of Karachi, IG Traffic Ghulam Qadir Thebo, DIG Motorway Waliullah Dal, National Highway Authority (NHA) secretary Rashid Memon and DIG Javed Alam Odho.

The finance minister directed the chief secretary and the commissioner to look into the issues related to the weighing bridges and police in Sindh.

The goods carriers had been demanding that the operation of weighing bridges throughout the country should be taken back from corrupt contractors and handed overto Motorway Police.

The minister asked other provinces to follow Sindh in implementation of the decisions made in the meeting.

Mr Khan urged the Sindh government to take effective measures to control heavy tariff on roads of Karachi because thousands of trailers loaded with export cargo, parked on the National and Super highways over the past 12 days, would now start moving to the port.

Similarly, he said, a large number of trailers and trucks had started moving to the port from the congested Hawkesbay and Mauripur roads and it would be comparatively easy for the administration to handle the situation on Sunday, it being a holiday.

APP adds: Mr Dar told journalists that the talks were held in a cordial way and decisions were made about all genuine demands of the transporters.

The minister for ports and shipping said the grievances of the transporters would be addressed.to Motorway Police.

The minister asked other provinces to follow Sindh in implementation of the decisions made in the meeting.

Mr Khan urged the Sindh government to take effective measures to control heavy tariff on roads of Karachi because thousands of trailers loaded with export cargo, parked on the National and Super highways over the past 12 days, would now start moving to the port.

Similarly, he said, a large number of trailers and trucks had started moving to the port from the congested Hawkesbay and Mauripur roads and it would be comparatively easy for the administration to handle the situation on Sunday, it being a holiday.

APP adds: Mr Dar told journalists that the talks were held in a cordial way and decisions were made about all genuine demands of the transporters.

The minister for ports and shipping said the grievances of the transporters would be addressed.