SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Representatives of South Waziristan’s business community demanded reopening of Angoor Adda border for business activities and warned to launch protest movement if the quarters concerned failed to meet their demands.

Addressing a press conference at Wana Press Club on Sunday, the business community representatives said that the closure of border point was having devastating economic impact on local businesses and urged the authorities to reopen the border point without further delay.

South Waziristan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Saifur Rehman and others said that suspension of business activities had resulted in a loss of Rs40 billion to business community as well as to the national treasury.

He also highlighted that economic downturn had forced the traders to shift their commercial activities to other borders, leading to closure of dozens of shops in Wana-Rustam Bazaar and Angoor Adda Bazaar, which resulted in unemployment of around 7,000 workers.

Pirmal Wazir, a senior leader of business community, expressed support for legitimate demands of the ongoing sit-in of locals at Angoor Adda border and appealed to the relevant high-ups to reopen and allow trade through the border.

Chamber’s representatives and other business leaders demanded of the federal government and security officials to take immediate steps to restore trade activities at the Angoor Adda border or they would block entire roads in Wana till the acceptance of their demands.

On the other hand, government sources claimed that Angoor Adda border was not officially closed, but the ongoing sit-in had halted trade activities. The maintained that the district administration was working to resolve legitimate issues of the Wazir tribes who lived near the border point.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024