August 08, 2006	Tuesday	Rajab 12, 1427

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KOHAT, Aug 7: Abolition of six customs checkposts in southern NWFP in 2004 was causing an annual loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer, officials here said. They said that the checkposts had been important to curb smuggling of foreign goods, vehicles and drugs and checking duty exemptions on Afghan trade.

They said that the region between Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan on the Indus Highway was the only corridor for smuggling goods to Sindh, with at least two crossing points to Punjab.

The abolished checkposts were Mujeeb Khan customs post, Rahim Khan at Khushal Garh Bridge on the Rawalpindi road, Tunnel checkpost in Kohat, Darya Tang in Bannu, Dera Darya Khan and Ramak in Dera Ismail Khan. Officials said that these checkpoints were also important for curbing smuggling from Kurram and Thall to other areas in the country.

Officials in the regional customs office in Kohat said that the smuggling of goods and illegal vehicles had increased because they had been strictly instructed to carry out only mobile checking and that, too, on prior information.

They complained about having to pay their informers and said that most of the times – unlike the Anti-Narcotics Force which is foreign-funded and rewards its informers amply – they simply did not have enough money to pay huge sums to informers.

As a result, they said, smuggled goods and drugs were making their way freely into the country. There had been no let up in the smuggling of poppy and hemp from Afghanistan and tribal areas into settled areas. The movement of drugs from Afghanistan into Pakistan had increased and Bara markets were overflowing with foreign goods as never before.

The customs official denied reports about the high incidence of corruption at these checkposts and said that it had “never been more than 5 or 6 per cent”, adding that it was negligible when compared to their revenue collection.

Comparing the revenue generated by the department before and after the closure of the customs checkposts, he said that during 2003-04, they had seized vehicles with goods worth Rs68.89 million, impounded non-customs paid vehicles worth Rs20.07 million and other goods worth Rs21.61 million in just one year. Similarly, drugs weighing 1,244 kilogrammes were seized with a market price of Rs12.44 million. The total amount thus comes to Rs123.01 million. Revenue collected after 2004 had come down to just Rs52.18 million while drug seizures amounted to only 387 kilogrammes.

Criticising the Central Board of Revenue’s policy, officials said that it had rendered experienced anti-smuggling staff useless and at the same time, many posts of assistant collectors, which should have been decreased under the new policy, had been upgraded to deputy collectors.

An officer remarked that vehicles provided to anti-smuggling staff was no match to those used by smugglers, adding that they needed the four-wheelers utilised by senior CBR officers for personal and office use.

They said that the staff deputed to check smuggling inside the tribal area had been provided with no security or boarding and lodging facilities, adding that no one took the risk of trying to stop a non-customs paid vehicle in North or South Waziristan agencies, which in effect were a haven for smugglers. “Simply put, we can’ face smugglers’ rocket launchers barehanded. We don’t have any protection. We lack firepower to match smugglers and modern telecomequipment to eavesdrop on their movements.”

They said that for the past five years, they had been living in tents and the Frontier Constabulary refused to provide them security, especially during night. Therefore, the staff at four checkposts in the Kurram Agency had to return to Parachinar from the border areas in the evening.

Five checkpoints have been set up from the Kurram Agency up to South Waziristan Agency. They are Shaheedano Dhand, Kharlachi, Teri Mengal and Burki in Kurram Agency and Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan Agency.

Criticising the trade policy, they said the export of wheat to Afghanistan had been allowed at the rate of 0.4 per cent collected as export development surcharge instead of the previous 12 per cent.

It caused a shortage of wheat and flour and the government had to import the commodity which again flowed to Afghanistan because of the absence of curbs.

They said that the policy of pleasing a few industrialists served no purpose.

A man, who had come from North Waziristan to the regional customs office to pay customs dues on his vehicle said that on an average, 12 to 15 vehicles crossed the border daily from the Wara Data Khel area, adding that there was no check on smuggling.