Pak-Afghan cargo service: Issuance of special passes to truck drivers suggested

PESHAWAR: The Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) has suggested issuing special passes to truck drivers transporting cargo goods between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In a press statement issued here on Friday, PAJCCI Coordinator, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi said the suggestion was meant for streamlining Pak-Afghan trade which was recently halted for 10 days over condition of visas by truck drivers. He proposed that around 1,000 truck drivers should be issued special passes instead of visa for carrying goods with ease between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

These 1,000 trucks, he went on to say, should be registered with the Customs and Transport Departments in Pakistan and Transport and Gumrak in Afghanistan.

The owners of heavy vehicles should also be charged a nominal fee for issuance of special pass, he explained.

Sarhadi, who is also President of Frontier Custom Agents Associations, said during a recent halt in trade for around 10 days, hundreds of trucks got stuck on both sides of the border and businessmen faced huge losses due to rotting of perishable items.

The importers and exporters in both Pakistan and Afghanistan had to pay enormous amounts as detention charges at a rate of US dollar 120 to 180 per day.

He hoped the issuance of special passes to trucks, allowing them to ply between Karachi to Mazhar Sharif, would help in easing transportation of cargo goods and promotion of trade between the two neighboring countries.