LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Sept 4: A seemingly unending row over acquisition of land is hampering construction of a Customs Complex at Torkham. The government had announced the construction of the complex in 2003, but no progress has been made so far. Government officials insisted that the complex would help improve trade relations with Afghanistan and Central Asians states, besides providing jobs to hundreds of unemployed tribesmen.

The proposed complex will consist of computerised offices, two over-head bridges, a petrol pump, a restaurant and a huge parking area, customs officials said.

The area, which was to be acquired for the complex, is the collective property of the Khuga Khel sub-tribe of the Shinwaris. Many of the Khuga Khel elders complained that customs officials had not consulted them about the planned complex.

The Khuga Khel elders alleged that the Khyber Agency administration had falsely informed the then governor NWFP Syed Iftekhar Hussain Shah in 2003 about acquisition of land for the project. About 750,000 square metres of land was to be needed to build the proposed complex, government officials said.

A local elder Haji Gulab Khan said that the project would displace at least 200 Khugakhel families besides demolishing a market with about 500 shops. He said that his tribe was not ready to surrender “even an inch of their land to the government” unless they were duly compensated.