Trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan via Torkham remained suspended Sunday as the protest strike of customs clearing agents and transporters enters fourth consecutive day, a report in the local media has informed.
Transporters said most of fresh fruits and vegetables loaded on their vehicles had started getting rotten as there was no arrangement for their storage at the Torkham border. A truck driver, shared that most of his colleagues had exhausted their travel allowances and they were now running short of money.
The president of the local customs clearing agents association, Zar Qeef Khan, said that his association had presented its charter of demands to the authorities concerned and they were now waiting for a positive response from the authorities regarding resolution of their grievances.
Khan shared that the charter of demands included provision of speedy internet facility and uninterrupted power supply for the effective working of the newly introduced Web Based One Customs system for customs clearance, implementation of all those rules at Torkham which are also applied at Chaman and Kharlachi, exemption of all import and export goods from fumigation at the Zero Point and instruction for security and other agencies to refrain from taking a loaded vehicle into their custody for rechecking after they have been cleared by the customs authorities.
