LANDI KOTAL: The administration of Khyber tribal district reopened cattle market in the militancy-affected Bara tehsil after 15 years.

A large number of local residents and cattle dealers attended the inauguration ceremony held at an open space on Frontier Road near Bara Bazaar.

Bara Traders Association president Said Ayaz Wazir and a local political leader Haji Safeeq Afridi jointly performed the inauguration of the cattle market. The officials of local administration were also present on the occasion.

The cattle market will be opened on every Monday and animals of various breeds meant for slaughtering would be brought from Orakzai, Kohat and Hangu districts besides different cities of Punjab. The market was closed some 15 years ago when a local outlawed group Lashkar-i-Islam started extorting money from the cattle traders.

Speaking on the occasion, Said Ayaz Wazir said that revival of business activities in Bara would help to compensate the traders for the monetary losses they suffered during the decade long militancy. He said that employment opportunities for local youth would be also generated with revival of business activities.

He said that business activities in Bara Bazaar were slowly picking up momentum as they had also inaugurated Peer Mela (Monday market) near Qambarabad for traders dealing in daily use commodities.

Mr Wazir, however, regretted the prolonged loadshedding of electricity and acute shortage of water in Bara Bazaar, saying local traders were badly affected by power outages and water shortage. He demanded of the authorities concerned to considerably curtail the duration of power outages at the local markets.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2019