TORKHAM: A top-ranking Pakistan Customs official on Monday said in the limited resources and ground hurdles, they have made record seizures of different contraband items, including currency and gold in Torkham in the past one year.
Additional collector custom Peshawar Syed Muhammad Zakir told The News that they have reshaped their strategies and search methodologies to detect smuggling of banned items in vehicles and passengers’ luggages. He said Pakistan custom in last one year made 126.6 million rupees seizures at Torkham border crossing.
The official said during the year of 2022-23 the custom enforcement department Torkham foiled 50 currency cases worth 61 million rupees, gold of Rs5.2 million and 36 other cases of different contraband including tyres,cigarettes, Non-custom paid vehicles and mobile plcell phones worth 60 million rupees.
Zakir said in one year that they have seized 126.6 million rupees items in a shape of currency, gold, and other contrabands at the Torkham border crossing. He said they had also seized 379.141 million rupees gold and other contrabands at Bacha Khan Airport in the past few months.
The custom official said they have also seized different non custim paid things in Nowshera,Mardan, and Abbotabad, worth 2121.74 million ruppees in 2022-23.
He urged to provide them modern high technology detecting equipment and facilities for custom staff at Torkham to further duty improvement so that they could perform their duties wholeheartedly.
Regarding the construction of Integrated Transit Trade Management System(ITTMS) being placed at Torkham terminal, the custom official said that construction work onTorkham terminal was at the final finals phase. He said the completion time was given December 2023, but due to various reasons, it seems the construction work could go beyond the time givep. He said the construction authorities must expedite the construction work on the Torkham border as early completion would resolve many issues, and it could help enhance trade with Afghanistan and increase revenue for Pakistan.
Sayed Muhammad Zakir said that due to the lack of proper facilities for staff and passengers, they face a number of challenges while performing duty at the Torkham border.
He said that until and unless the road has not been widened at the Afghan side of the border, trade with Afghanistan and central Asian countries could not flourish.
To a question, he said in flag meeting authorisation have time and again requested the Afghan government to widen thoe road on ethgeir side in Afghanistan’ Torkham to resolve the slow traffic flow on both sides of the border.
Regarding the hard and fast conditions for passengers’ movement via Torkham border Sayed Muhammad Zakir said every passenger should be given an Easement Rights(ER) so that the people living on bothsides of the border who have blood relationship, colective businesses and share common culture could freely move across the border.
The official said 50 percents Afghan patients who used to visit Pakistan for medical treatment suffered from hard conditions placed in Torkham border.He said despite that the border should be monitored well we were working to bring an easemet for traders,transporters and passengers at Torkham border
