PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday urged the provincial government to provide facilities to local businesspersons and transporters and relax the axle load regime.

SCCI president Faiz Mohammad Faizi told a consultative meeting on the National Freight and Logistics Policy here that the industries in KP had suffered a lot due to the prolonged wave of terrorism and unfavourable conditions and the current government’s policies would lead to their total destruction.

He demanded relaxation in the axle load regime until the resumption of freight train service in the province.

Mr Faizi called for the provision of facilities to local businesses like those in other provinces.

He said the local industries had suffered huge losses due to the suspension of cargo train service in the province.

The SCCI chief said on one hand, KP’s businesses suffered for being away from the port city of Karachi and on the other, terrorism had badly affected them, so the government should support them for revival.

He urged the government to take all chambers of commerce and stakeholders on board before formulating policies to strengthen economy on a sustainable basis.

Mr Faizi said the discriminatory with KP industries should be ended.

He said the cost of industrial productivity had increased following the introduction of the axle load regime in the province adversely affecting local industries.

“KP is producing the cheapest electricity in the country but electricity is sold to it at high rate in an act of complete injustice,” he said.

The SCCI president said the province also produced surplus natural gas bur ironically, local industrial, commercial and domestic consumers didn’t get the gas in adequate quality.

A team of the federal communication ministry consisting of Javed Mansoor and Syed Asim Hussain also met Mr Faizi, who along with president of the Industrialist Association Hayatabad Zarak Khan, former SCCI president Malik Niaz Ahmad and former SCCI senior vice-president Maqsood Anwar Pervez gave suggestions to make the National Freight and Logistics Policy more business and industry-friendly.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2019