Control ice prices, Jalalabad residents ask municipality

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Residents of Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, complain that ice prices have been arbitrarily increased by sellers after the rise in temperature.

Jalalabad Municipality officials, confirming the matter, said they have started efforts to prevent the hike in ice prices.

Abdul Wali, a resident of sixth district of Jalalabad city, told Pajhwok ice sellers in their area recently increased the price of ice block from 100 afghnis to 150 afghanis.

Another resident of Jalalabad, Imran Ali, said poor people would be unable to buy ice blocks to cool water if its prices were not controlled.

He added: “Many shopkeepers do not sell ice for 20 afghanis, the poor cannot afford to pay 50 afghanis. The government should control the prices.”

Sahib Saleh, a resident of Daman area, said some ice factories were shut down last week and ice was in short supply and a piece of ice was sold for 200 afghanis.

However, Jalalabad ice sellers and ice factory officials say the municipality has imposed a tax of up to 10 afghanis on each block of ice and as a result they have increased its rate.

Akbar Khan, an ice seller in Jalalabad city, told Pajhwok that they buy ice at a high price.

An official of an ice factory in Jalalabad city told Pajhwok on condition of anonymity that the municipality was collecting 10 afghanis tax against each ice block.

“Due to this reason, some factories were closed and others raised ice prices,” he said.

However, Jalalabad municipality said it was not true that they collected 10 afghanis tax from ice manufacturing factories.

Bakhti Jan Murad, the spokesperson of the municipality, told Pajhwok that they had fixed the price of a piece of ice 28 afghanis in consultation with the factory owners, but some factories were not implementing this.

He said their monitoring teams had arrested a number of people who were selling ice for 45 afghanis.

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