KOHAT: The political administration of Frontier Region, Kohat, has decided to register all the gun shops and their stock of weapons in the gun-manufacturing town of Darra Adamkhel to bring them under tax net.

When contacted, an official of political administration Azam Khan said that all sale points of local and foreign-made weapons, factories and workshops would be registered. He said that the step would also control smuggling and prevent arms going into the hands of terrorists.

He said that presently only few manufacturers had got permits from the home department to do the business legally. He said that they had once proposed to declare the town as tax-free industrial estate like Gadoon Amazai which would benefit the gun artisans and also help in controlling arms business.

A shopkeeper dealing in foreign-made weapons told this correspondent on the condition of anonymity that the decision would adversely affect the local artisans who had been trained by their forefathers and nobody would come to buy weapons here.

He said that the business of carriers would also suffer as they charged a handsome amount of money for delivering Darra-made weapons in other parts of the country.

GYMNASIUM: The work for expansion of Kohat stadium into a gymnasium for indoor games and a swimming pool is under way.

During inspection of the site, MPA Ziaullah Bangash said that the people of Kohat would get the swimming pool facility for the first time and the gymnasium would have courts for volleyball, basketball, table tennis and other indoor games. The facilities of hockey, football and cricket were already available at the stadium.

He said that it was the vision of PTI chairman Imran Khan to encourage the local youth for which sports grounds were being constructed at the local level.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2018