MINGORA, Jan 18: Provincial Minister for Forests and Environment Wajid Ali Khan has said Swat is a tax-free zone and rejected reports about levying of any tax in Malakand division as rumours.

Addressing a meeting of a representative jirga of trade leaders and elders of Swat here on Friday, the minister said he had opposed the levying of any tax in Malakand in the past and will do so in future too.

He termed the reports in this regard as mere speculation, saying he didn’t want to further burden the crisis-hit people of Malakand. He said steps had been taken to improve the life style of the common man.

He said the ANP government declared Swat as a tax-free zone, as the people of the scenic valley had suffered due to militancy and floods, to help them recover economic losses.

Meanwhile, Swat trade federation president Abdur Rahim told Dawn that the traders community would not accept any tax.