High transport fares worry Balkh inhabitants

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The residents of northern Balkh province complain taxi and other bus fares have been hiked inordinately, but local officials say they are trying to control the situation.

Bahruddin, a resident of the provincial capital, told Pajhwok Afghan News transporters had implemented a two-fold spike in fares on long trips.

“If I wanted to travel from Balkh to Jawzjan, I had to pay 150 afs in the past. But now I have to pay 300 afs. I can’t afford to pay that much money.” Bahruddin commented.

Syed Maroof, another passenger, said he wanted to travel to Faryab province, but the travel cost was way too high and he could not pay it.

“The fare from Balkh to Faryab was 400 afs in the past, but now it has soared to 800 afs,” Maroof claimed.

But Mohammad Sabir, a resident of Mazar-i-Sharif, said the intra-city transport fares had also jumped.

The taxi fare from the Mazar-i-Sharif to Amani Karte was previously 20 afs, he recalled. But now it has surged to 30 afs, to the detriment of passengers.

In the meantime, drivers reason that with the approach of winter, prices of fuel had surged. As a result, they have to charge high fares.

Nazar Mohammad, a Faryab-Balkh highway driver, said their previous travel time was four hours. As of now, according to him, the time has increased to eight hours due to snow-clogged roads.

As a consequence, the driver argued, they charged higher fares.

But Transport Director Mohammad Homayoun Frotan said teams had been sent to different parts of the city to control taxi and bus fares.

With the beginning of the harsh winter, many people are facing a whole host of problems in different provinces of the country.

aw/mud

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