Business leaders warn of economic crisis as road blockades cripple trade

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KARACHI: The business community has expressed serious concerns over the ongoing sit -in and inadequate roads throughout Sindh, which has caused huge losses to trade and industry in the country.

The transporters of the goods also took to the streets to protest against the closures and the trapping of their vehicles. The Goods Transporters Association staged a demonstration, and demanded that the government worked immediately to reopen roads for the movement of cars trapped for the past several days.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Javed Bilani expressed serious concern over the ongoing sit -in and blockade near the Babaloi town in Khairpur, saying that the situation has affected the movement of vehicles on the national highway, and its entire transport.

Bilani acknowledged the constitutional right of peaceful protests, but emphasized that the long blockade of major commercial routes, especially for the city’s goods and exports, has caused tremendous damage to the business community and especially in the time of destructive goods, the supply of sensitive exports has been hindered.

“The supply chain is paralyzed due to the chain and sit -ins, which contains long queues of containers and commercial vehicles trapped in Rohri, Ali Wahan and other important arteries,” he said. “This has not only disrupted internal trade, but also threatens Pakistan’s export promises and damages its reputation in the global markets.”

Bilani stressed that although the protesters’ concerns should be resolved through dialogue and mutual respect, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the national economic activity is stopped. “The situation is not only hurting businesses and industries, but also endangering employment and trade at a time when the country is already facing serious economic challenges,” he added.

He called on the federal and provincial governments to take immediate steps to facilitate negotiations with the protest leaders, restore traffic on the national highway, and export goods to prevent the movement of commercial goods and further economic loss. He concluded, “The economic tensions of this blockade are increasing for an hour. We appeal to the immediate solution in the interest of the economy and the people.” The Karachi Bar Association is called and is called by the Sindh High Court Bar Association with the Nationalist Groups and Civil Society, resulting in mass blockade in protest against the federal government’s controversial plan to construct six new canals from the Indus River.

Sheikh Amir Rehan, chairperson of the Pakistan Wanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA), has warned that the ongoing protests on national highways and road closures have severely affected the transport of food oil, cooking oil and ghee across the country to connect Sindh to other provinces. As a result, thousands of containers are trapped in various places, which causes the industry to lose billions of rupees. Rehan expressed serious concern over the growing difficulties facing the manufacturers, saying that export shipments are also unable to reach the ports on time, endanger the cancellation of foreign orders and create more financial tensions for industrialists. He emphasized that the obstruction of transportation is not only affecting the supply of essential commodities but has already led to a shortage of edible oil and ghee in many areas, which has increased the difficulties for the general public. Industries relies heavily on imported raw materials, especially those involved in edible oil production are facing severe operational slowdown. He warned that if immediate action was not taken to reopen the roads, the decline could be significantly damaged in the coming days.

Rehan called on the federal and provincial governments to work quickly to clean the highways and national routes of the protesters to ensure the unprecedented supply of food items across the country and restore the logistics network, including exports. He warned that the failure to immediately resolve the situation immediately would not only lack the necessary goods such as edible oil, cooking oil and ghee, but also to mobilize inflation and to stop industrial activity. Highlighting the broader implications, Rehan noted that the edible oil sector meets a large part of the country’s food needs, and that obstacles can have a detrimental impact on the national economy. He appealed to the authorities to take immediate and practical steps to protect the industry from further losses, emphasizing that the ongoing road barriers are also damaging Pakistan’s reputation in international markets.

Meanwhile, Asif Iqbal Pracha, chairperson of the Pakistan Saben Manufacturers Association (PSMA), expressed concern over the closure of major highways in Sindh, warning that the situation was creating a severe financial crisis in the economy.

Pracha noted that hundreds of millions of exports have been trapped for the past 12 days and have warned that if the government has failed to clear the blockade, the national exchequer may suffer billions of dollars of loss. He added that the delay in providing export orders and cancellation has already damaged Pakistan’s reputation in international markets.