Reopen Spin Boldak-Chaman road immediately, demands FPCCI

KABUL (Pajhwok): Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) head Atif Ikram Sheikh has called for immediate reopening of the Spin Boldak-Chaman road to alleviate traders’ sufferings.

Dawn quoted Ikram as saying: “The Chaman border should be opened immediately to alleviate the sufferings and financial losses of the traders and allow essential supplies like food and medicines to pass through the border.”

He said thousands of trucks and other vehicles had been stranded for over a week hampering economic activities.

He said the Chaman border nestled in the heart of the region’s complex geopolitical landscape had long been a significant point for cross-border trade between the two neighbouring countries

“This kind of blockage repeatedly over the past five years has eroded the government’s authority, resulting in a precarious law and order situation in the border area,” the FPCCI chief said.

He said as a routine occurrence, small mobs, smugglers and outlaws frequently closed the border area, disrespecting the law of the land and inflicting immense losses to the law-abiding traders of both sides.

kk/ma