Monitoring Desk
JALALABAD: A number of Afghan traders have shut the Torkham gate against exports after their spare parts loaded vehicles remained parked in western Herat province for months, causing them ‘huge’ losses.
The traders said the Ministry of Finance had stopped hundreds of their trucks full of spare parts in Herat province, inflicting huge losses on them.
On Thursday, the protesting businesspeople also erected a tent in Torkham border town in Momandara district of eastern Nangarhar.
Khalil Rahman Shinwari, one of the traders, said 1,700 disassembling vehicles for spare parts in containers remained stranded at the Herat Customs Office for the last four months. He said 700 of the cars belonged to Torkham traders and they had so far incurred huge losses as a result of the vehicles’ blockade.
Shinwari said he had shared the issue several times with the officials concerned, but none paid attention.
Another protesting trader, Zir Gul, said they would keep the border gate closed and continue their protest until their problems were resolved.
Meanwhile, shopkeepers in Torkham town also complained their sales had been at a standstill due to the stranded vehicles in Herat and they lost a high amount of money they were supposed to earn every day.
Rahmanullah, one of the shopkeepers, said their spare parts business was good until recent past but slowed down after spare parts stopped reaching their market.
Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, told Pajwhok that the issue would be shared with the provincial administration and the Ministry of Finance for solution.
Torkham is a major commercial town and trade route between Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Pajhwok)
