Agricultural produce traders demand reopening of Pak-Afghan border

PESHAWAR: All Pakistan Agricultural Produce Traders Federation (APAPTF) has appealed to the government to reopen the Pak-Afghan border and allow export of fruit and vegetables to save their precious products and prevent losses worth millions of rupees.

“It is deplorable to note that the trucks full of fruit and vegetables are stuck at Pak-Afghan border despite the fact that all the relevant departments have cleared the routine procedures,” said the federation president Malik Sohni.

He added that the constant closure of Pak-Afghan border would destroy fruit and vegetables, which has nothing to do with coronavirus. “We want export according to the government SOPs and request the authorities to solve the problems,” he said.

The closure of Pak-Afghan border, he said, had not only affected thousands of farmers and businessmen but also deprived the national exchequer of taxes worth billions of rupees. “The border has been closed for the last 20 days, but even before the issuance of notification, our vehicles had achieved the clearance, gate pass but still they were not allowed to cross the border,” he claimed.

Malik Sohni said the government has announced relief packages for other businessmen but ignored their community. The closure of border, he said, was also affecting the people on the other side of the border.

He said they had conveyed their complaints through the secretary agriculture and chief secretary and both the officers have termed their demands genuine but still no action was taken on their requests.