October 26, 2007	Friday	Shawwal 13, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: The government has decided to appoint a new member customs, along with a chief collector for the North region.

The post has been created as part of an overall tax administration reforms project.

Well-placed sources told Dawn on Thursday that a summary has already been moved to the prime minister’s secretariat for approval to replace the current member customs Shahid Rahim Sheikh.

Sources said that Mahmood Alam and Mussarat Jabeen are in the run for the post.

According to sources, Mr Sheikh has been tipped to be posted as new chief collector north after his replacement from the present assignment. The government has already appointed Muneer Qureshi as chief collector of South region.

In the new structure, the country has been divided into two regions: North and South. The North Region will consist of model customs collectorates at Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Sambrial, and Faisalabad.

The South Region will consist of the following model customs collectorate of PACCS, Custom House Karachi; appraisement; exports, port Bin Qasim, preventive, post clearance audit, Hyderabad, Quetta and Gwadar.

According to the sources, many senior officials are using influence to get themselves posted against this important slot. The two regions will be headed by a BS-21 officer with the designation as chief collector.

The main objective for appointment of chief collectors is to provide senior level operational heads in the field so that day-to-day operational issues faced by the collectorates and by the clients of the customs department are addressed and resolved expeditiously.

This will enable the board to concentrate on policy development and formulation. Chief collectors will report to member (customs).

Office of the Chief Collector (North) will be located at the Customs House, Lahore and of Chief Collector (South) in Custom House, Karachi.