PM Imran Khan due in Nowshera on 8th to inaugurate Azakhel Pirpiai Dry Port

NOWSHERA: Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Nowshera on January 8 to inaugurate the Azakhel Pirpiai Dry Port which will be the largest such facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and second in the country.

Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad will accompany the prime minister. The security arrangements are being finalised for the ceremony. Chief Traffic Officer of Pakistan Railways Haroonur Rasheed told The News the development work on the Azakhel Pirpiai Dry Port was launched in June 2016. “It was supposed to be completed in February 2020 but has been finished one the month ahead of the scheduled time,” he added. The official said the Azakhel Pirpiai Dry Port was of immense importance as far as trader and business was concerned. “The Pakistan Railways acquired 64 acres of land for the purpose. The dry port has been developed in the first phase over 28 acres of land at Rs 500 million cost. This will be expanded with time,” said the official. Haroonur Rasheed said the dry port would have a one-window operation for which a facilitation centre had already been set up.

He said the Customs, Railways and the National Bank of Pakistan and police check-up points had been established. The official said the construction work on the boundary wall of the dry port was in the final stages.

“The Closed-Circuit Cameras have been completed but there were still some sections which were being finished,” he elaborated. The official said heavy machinery would be shifted to the dry port soon. He said 250,000 square feet area had been allocated for containers in the facility which would be increased gradually. The official said the Azakhel Pirpiai Dry Port was part of the Goods In Transit Trade to Afghanistan project. Haroonur Rasheed said the Peshawar Dry Port operations would be shifted to Azakhel and the staff would move there as it was spread over 13 acres and had now been surrounded by populated area and hence leading to the traffic congestion problem. The official said the Azakhel Pirpiai Dr Port would be linked to Afghanistan through the Ring Road and that would lessen the traffic congestion problems of Peshawar.

The Peshawar Regional Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Railways Fayyaz Ahmad Khan said the trade through the railways would give a long life to the roads and motorways. He said the Azakhel Pirpiai Dry Port was linked with the first phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. “This will make Peshawar valley a trade hub,” he hoped.