LANDI KOTAL: Most of the mutton eateries in Landi Kotal and Torkham towns have been closed due to complete ban on import of livestock from Afghanistan since early September.

Livestock dealers said that no reason about the ban on import of sheep and goats from Afghanistan had been cited despite repeated meetings with officials of political administration and Frontier Corps.

They said that the prolonged ban affected their otherwise ‘thriving’ business and they had incurred huge losses as they were compelled to shut down their restaurants and eateries due to shortage of mutton.

Traders say they were not informed about reasons for ban on import of goats and sheep from Afghanistan

Abdullah, owner of a mutton eatery at Landi Kotal Bazaar, told Dawn that only three restaurants out of total 15 dealing in mutton barbeque and Karahi were open. He said that three of the total eight such restaurants were operating in Torkham town.

“Seekh Tikka and mutton Karahi were our main attractions and the only two items on our very limited menu for which people from different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and even other provinces would come to Landi Kotal,” said Abdullah.

He said that most of their customers had been lost due to the prolonged ban with no sign of any immediate lifting of it.

The Khyber Agency political administration and Frontier Corps (Khyber Rifles) officials imposed a tax of Rs500 on every sheep and goat imported from Afghanistan a week before Eidul Azha as authorities had earlier stopped the import of livestock when some dealers alleged that they were fleeced at the checkposts along the main Peshawar-Torkham Highway.

Officials, however, rejected the allegation and later announced imposition of tax on import of livestock. The import was later completely banned without any formal announcement or any intimation to livestock dealers a week after the Eid.

The officials at Torkham border confided to Dawn that the tax they had imposed on livestock earned them huge revenue of nearly Rs120 million in a very short span of time.

Haji Dadeen Shinwari, a cattle trader and owner of a restaurant, said that all their pleadings for revival of import fell on deaf ears. “Every time we approach the officials, they assure us of lifting the ban but so far the ban has not been lifted and the local dealers continue to suffer,” he added.

Mr Shinwari said that he would slaughter more than 15 sheep for daily consumption at his restaurant at Landi Kotal Bazaar before imposition of ban. “Although my own restaurant has been closed since second week of September, the three other operational restaurants are able to sell only eight or 10 slaughtered sheep collectively on daily basis,” he said, adding that price of one kilogram of cooked mutton had gone up from Rs900 to Rs1,200.

He said that the quality of mutton they got from local sheep bought from Nowshera and Karkhano Market was not as good as that of the Afghan sheep and goats. “The taste too is different while our clients also prefer Afghan sheep over the local ones,” he added.

Sources at Torkham said that nearly 5,000 sheep and goats would be brought from Afghanistan prior to imposition of tax.

“Livestock dealers would take these animals to almost all the major cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and some cities of Punjab,” they said.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2017