‘Work on new terminal at Torkham to start soon’

LANDIKOTAL: A Customs official said on Tuesday construction work on a state-of-the-art terminal at Torkham border would start shortly which would not only increase revenue generation but also enhance trade ties with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics.

Qurban Ali, Customs, Collector Peshawar, said this while speaking to a joint delegation of Torkham Customs and transport union leaders here.The official said engineers had completed design of the state-of-the-art terminal and its tender had issued for bidding.

Qurban Ali said the Asian Development Bank had released Rs12 billion for the Torkham terminal that would be completed in four years. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was likely to lay the foundation stone in the coming weeks.

The official said Customs were trying their best to provide facilities to transporters and business community so that they could increase import and export with Afghanistan and Central Asian states.

The official said they held several rounds of talks with Afghan officials to expedite the documentation process of the more than 8,000 stranded trucks in Afghanistan. He added they also kept offices open till late night so that trucks could cross Torkham border at the earliest.

“I know that due to strict border management rules imports and exports via Torkham border have been reduced for some time but it is a part of National Action Plan implemented to protect our country,” said Qurban Ali. However, he believed the transportation of goods via Torkham border was gaining momentum every day.

The official said modern electronic equipment and computers had been provided to the staff members. He said that Customs collected Rs700 million as import and export taxes every month at Torkham border. He said soon special cards would be issued to Customs clearing agents and their employees that would be a substitute to visa to cross Torkham border.

To a question, Qurban Ali said Pakistan and Afghanistan depended on each other. The official said that Pakistan was working on another project with Afghanistan to construct Peshawar-Kabul Motorway. He said they had completed homework on the project and were negotiating with Afghan government to finalize the road map.Meanwhile, Torkham Custom clearing agents president, Hayatullah Shinwari and transporters president Azeemullah Shinwari informed the collector about their problems.