Sharjeel asks MPAs to tell their constituents to follow traffic rules

Parents turning a blind eye to their children indulging in underage driving and car showroom owners parking their vehicles in multiple lanes on main roads are two glaring instances showing how people show a complete disregard for traffic rules in Karachi.

These issues were highlighted by the Sindh senior minister for transport and information, Sharjeel Inam Memon, on Friday as he spoke in the Sindh Assembly on the helplessness of the traffic police and other government officials in resolving continuing vehicular traffic woes in the city.

The transport minister was responding to a call-attention notice moved by a legislator of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Jamal Ahmed, on the issues of underage rickshaw drivers in Karachi and the absence of traffic police personnel on roads to ensure the safe return of students to their homes after the closure of schools in the afternoon.

Memon lamented that underage children were seen driving motorcycles and SUVs on roads of the city. He said the parents were under an obligation to prevent underage driving by their children. He told the House that any casualty occurring due to reckless driving by an underage driver would attract manslaughter charges.

“The parents shouldn’t turn a blind eye to this issue. Everyone should realise to what extent he or she observes the traffic rules,” he said.

He added that car showroom owners in the city also had not paid heed to repeated requests by the traffic police that their vehicles should not encroach upon roads. He lamented that relevant associations of traders immediately reacted and gave a strike call if the government showed no leniency while dealing with such traffic-related issues.

The transport minister sought assistance from the lawmakers in the House to spread the message in their respective constituencies that the people should not disregard the traffic rules. “We have to collectively rectify this situation. No doubt the basic responsibility lies with the government but we all have to perform our duty in this regard,” he maintained.

Memon informed the House that the government had placed a ban on Qingqi rickshaws but they were still operating in Karachi because of a stay granted by the court against this order. He suggested to the concerned MPAs to become a party to this case and ask the court about the reason for continuing operations of the Qingqi rickshaws in the metropolitan city despite a ban imposed by the government.

Answering the call-attention notice, he said that traffic police personnel who performed their duties on roads amid soaring temperatures deserved respect by the people. “Good and bad people are present everywhere but it is unwise to blame an entire department,” he said while talking about the traffic police.

Memon recalled that in the past, terrorists had targeted traffic police personnel on roads of Karachi. He added that traffic police personnel had been performing their duties on the roads of Karachi without caring for their lives.

Meanwhile, responding to queries from concerned legislators during the question hour of the session, Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Katchi Abadis Najmi Alam informed the legislature that the Sindh government had been working on a project to build flats in shanty settlements in the city.

Answering a question, he said shanty settlements built before 2011 had been regularised as per the law. He claimed that several government servants had been dismissed from service as punishment for their failure to prevent squatter settlements built on state lands in the province.

He also told the legislators that a model colony had been built in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, several legislators in the House, including Muhammad Farooq of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Nisar Khuhro of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Shabbir Qureshi of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Sabir Qaimkhani of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, greeted the Hindu community in the country on their festive occasion of Diwali.

Speaking on the occasion, PPP MPA Nisar Khuhro recalled that former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto played an instrumental role in securing fundamental rights for religious minorities in the country. He mentioned that the white colour on the Pakistani flag represented the minorities.