TORKHAM: Custom agents,traders and transporters on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration in Torkham and chanted slogans for the reopening of Torkham border that has been closed on Saturday over the passport and visa condition placed for cargo vehicles drivers and their helpers.
The protesters were holding placards and black flags marched in Torkham bazaar.
Torkham custom clearing agents association chairman Mirajuddin Shinwari said that both the Pakistan and Afghan governments should sincerely address the problems of the citizens and relax the border for trade activities. He said hundreds of cargo vehicles were parked on both sides that hit billion of rupees losses to traders from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“The daily losses in terms of taxes being collected from export and import goods at Torkham is around 150 million rupees every day while billions of rupees worth goods got rotten due to the closure of the border”,said Mirajuddin Shinwari.
Shinwari said Pakistan should relax visa and passport conditions for truckers at least so that trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan could be kept smoothly continued.He said traders and businesses communities strongly reject the hard and fast rules and and anti trade border policies.
Meanwhile, Taliban led Afghan government threatened to permanently close down the Torkham and Kharlachi border points with Pakistan if a mutually agreeable solution was not chalked out for the long awaited border issues including visa and passport issue.
It may be mentioned here that Torkham border crossing remained closed for all kind of business activities for the last five days that irked life on the both sides residents.
