KHYBER – Taj Muhammad Afridi, the provincial minister of relief and rehabilitation, was dissatisfied with how the various departments were operating at the Torkham border and he encouraged them to coordinate their efforts to improve trade at the crossing.
Speaking at a high-level meeting on trade improvement held on Tuesday at zero point in Torkham, the minister said that prior to the introduction of WEBOC and other contemporary systems, the trade was declining day by day, casting doubt on the effectiveness of various departments.
Prior to the introduction of WEBOC and other contemporary systems, the export via Torkham border was in the billion dollar range.
He voiced his displeasure with the presentation made by the Custom official and claimed that it was incongruent with the actual scenario on the ground. The export through Torkham crossing is decreasing from billion to million dollars at a slow rate of clearing, which is very concerning, he continued.
He added and urged to implement all required initiatives to provide relief to the Afghani patients and general pedestrians, stressing the need for coordination among the government departments in Torkham to expedite the export clearance process.
Customs, the National Logistic Cell (NLC), and the Border Security Force had earlier informed the Provincial Caretaker Minister and stated that hundreds of export-loaded vehicles had been cleared despite there being no parking lot at the Torkham Customs House across the border. They claimed that one border exit and entrance suffered from traffic movement that needed to be separated for the efficient transfer of goods and commodities. The officials also recommended holding a combined meeting of all Pakistani and Afghan stakeholders to discuss the issues they were currently facing.
In attendance at the conference were Assistant Commissioner of Customs Yawar Hayat, Col. Aziz of the NLC, representatives of Border Security, Deputy Commissioner Khyber Abdul-Nasir, District Police Officer (DPO) Saleem Abbas, and Yasir Arafat from the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA). -(TheNation.com.pk)
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