Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: Torkham customs clearing agents and traders on Saturday established a sit-in camp at the Torkham border crossing to record their protest against the hard and fast conditions including Temporary Admission Document (TAD) placed for transporters that have caused shrink bilateral trade with Afghanistan.
The sit-in camp led by All Torkham Custom Association president Aimal Khan Shinwari installed a tent near the Zero point in Torkham where a large number of traders, transporters, truck drivers and other business community members participated.
The protesters were demanding relaxation in the issuance of Temporary Admission Documents (TAD) for cargo vehicles between the two countries. The protesters claimed that the issuance of the TAD document took several months to obtain which caused financial losses for cargo vehicle drivers.
Talking to journalists Aimal Khan Shinwari said the delay in issuing the TAD document would severely decrease bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan and central Asian countries.
He said thousands of cargo vehicles have been stranded on both sides of the Torkham border for the past month due to the lack of TAD documents with the truck drivers. He said the TAD condition was imposed without prior notice to the drivers.
Aimal Khan urged border authorities to bring ease to passport and visa policy and allow cargo vehicles to move through TAD would be a positive step for both countries.
He said to prevent the collapse of bilateral trade, the delay in issuing TAD documents needs to be resolved on a priority basis.
The protesters threatened that if border conditions were not released till Monday they would be compelled to give a countrywide wheel-jam strike which would be continued until their demands were met.
