Protesting Aibak truckers block Kabul-Mazar highway

AIBAK (Pajhwok): Hundreds of truckers on Tuesday blocked the Kabul-Mazar highway in northern Samangan province to protest a hike in the urban service tax.

The protestors have kept closed the road at several parts since morning, saying the commissioners appointed by the municipality received 300 to 500 afghanis from each trucker every month.

But now the money is charged on a daily basis, according to the protestors, numbering around 300.

Khan Mohammad, who drives a Kamaz-type truck in Aibak, the capital of Samangan, told Pajhwok Afghan News the commissioners charged him 600 afghanis a month last year.

But this fiscal year that began on December 22, they were being charged 500 afghanis daily, the driver complained. He demanded an immediate revocation of the tax increase.

The drivers are made to pay the tax on transporting construction materials, rocks or other stuff to Aibak.

Mohammad said: “We have been protesting for 10 days, because paying this amount is beyond our capability. We have to give all the money we earn to the commissioners.”

However, Municipal Commissioner Abdul Aziz insisted they charged the truckers according to the relevant rules and those who protested did not want to pay the tax or accept the law.

Mayor Noor Ahmad Same said commissioners charged 50 afghanis on each cubic meter of bricks, sand and gravel and 30 afghanis on soil and rock. He argued the commissioners could be blamed if they took more than those amounts.

Provincial police chief Nadir Fahim, who was also present at the scene, acknowledged the protest as a legal right of people. But he asked the protestors to reopen the road for traffic.

mds/mud