KOHAT, Dec 9: The interior ministry is understood to be working on a multi-pronged strategy to regulate illegal arms business in the century-old gun manufacturing town of Darra Adam Khel with the aim of curbing smuggling and preventing weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists and criminals.

Nadeem Anwar, assistant political agent of the Frontier Region of Kohat, told Dawn on Friday that a number of proposals were discussed at a recent meeting chaired by the NWFP governor and attended by interior ministry officials.

One of the proposals called for issuing export licences to arms factory owners and allowing them to sell weapons directly to foreign countries. Only two arms dealers are currently exporting weapons through the defence ministry and hundreds of others are still engaged in illicit trading.

The interior ministry officials after inspecting the arms said that the quality of these weapons should be improved to meet international standards. Establishment of big showrooms in the Darra Adam Khel Bazaar was also considered where weapons could be displayed for international and domestic buyers.

It was proposed that the export option be offered to big arms dealers and factory owners as an alternative to their illegal business which earns for them millions of rupees every month.

The establishment of an industrial zone for other than the purpose of arms manufacturing had been approved in principle and a few places had been identified for it.

The ministry of SAFRON rejected one of the sites on the Rawalpindi road saying it was not suitable due to certain reasons. Now the administration is looking for a piece of land near Darra Adam Khel Bazaar but so far no place has been formally selected.

The main hurdle in purchasing a large plot of land was that there is usually no single owner of land in the tribal area. Past experiences have shown that land disputes arose each time the government declared its intent to buy a certain property.

Mr Anwar cited the example of coal mines where work had been stopped since 2004 as a result of an ownership dispute. Despite that, he said, the government was trying to find a plot of land measuring 300 to 400 kanals for a suitable price.

He said that it was the responsibility of elders and elected representatives to help the government in this regard so that a network of industries could be set up to provide jobs to tribesmen. This network would also help to combat crime and curb arms and drugs smuggling.

Meanwhile, the artisans who were employed in the Wah Ordinance Factories for the last two to three years had returned to their old lucrative business again.

The artisans said they had left their jobs because their salary was just Rs2500 per month. But in Darra Adam Khel they said they could easily earn up to Rs7,000 every month. Besides that they were provided free lodging, food and loans on different occasions by the factory owner.

Similarly, it is unclear how the government would deal with those who have mastered over the last 100 years the art of producing an array of deadly weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, assault-rifles and explosive devices.

The other problematic category would be of drug smugglers whose businesses just cannot be legalized.

An Afghan arms seller who established his business in the Darra market 30 years ago said that many workers from Punjab, who constitute more than half of the work force, were now working secretly in their native towns under the protection of big landlords. Here it is worth mentioning that all counterfeit currency sold in Darra market is printed in Punjab and brought here to be smuggled back again.