KARACHI: Businessmen Alliance Chairman Asif Sakhi has questioned the role of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in addressing traders’ concerns, claiming that confidence in the chamber among the business community has fallen to just one per cent.
Sakhi made the remarks while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club ahead of the KCCI elections scheduled for September 26. He alleged that the Businessmen Group (BMG) had controlled the chamber for the past 26 years but had failed to adequately address the problems confronting Karachi’s traders.
Referring to the Gul Plaza tragedy, Sakhi claimed that tenants affected by the incident had received compensation, while shop owners had yet to receive payments. He alleged that the KCCI had not played a significant role in securing compensation for the affected owners.
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Sakhi said his criticism was not directed at individuals and described his differences with the chamber leadership as policy-related. He urged KCCI officials, including former president Zubair Motiwala, to focus on resolving what he described as the fundamental problems facing traders in Karachi.
He also alleged that previous KCCI elections had not been conducted in accordance with the chamber’s rules and claimed that election teams were repeatedly formed along ethnic lines.
“The situation at the Karachi Chamber has become quite alarming,” Sakhi said, adding that businesses were increasingly shifting operations from Karachi to Punjab.
The Businessmen Alliance chairman also compared the situation of Karachi’s traders with business communities in other cities, claiming that traders elsewhere appeared to be in a stronger position.
He called for measures to address the economic and administrative challenges facing Karachi’s business community and urged chamber leadership to take a more active role in resolving traders’ longstanding concerns.
