600 port workers render unemployed: Shams

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Transport (MoT) on Tuesday said 600 workers have been currently unemployed in ports that saw 250,000 Afghans returning home since the lockdown.

Mohammad Yama Shams, Minister of Transport and also Afghanistan’s Railway Department head, told a press conference here 18,000 Afghans arrived in the country on 70 flights, including 6,739 passengers returning from India, 8,677 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 2,961 from Turkey.

According to his information, around 253,000 refugees and passengers returned to the country via Islam Qala, Zaranj, Torkham and Spin Boldak ports.

He said currently all international flights were stopped, but permission was given to flights in case of emergency.

He said, “We plan to bring more Afghan passengers to the country within the next week on 20 flights.”

He said medicines and medical equipment have been brought to the country on two separate flights so far from China and India.

He added during the lock down, nearly 700,000 tons of food-items and medicines were imported to the country in 40,000 cargo trucks via the country’s ports.

He said 40,000 tons wheat, 88,000 tons flour, 3,000 of ghee, 160,000 tons of oil and more than 40,000 tons of liquid gas have been imported through railways.

Shams said efforts were underway to provide job for the 600 unemployed workers of the ports in near future.

Pk/ma

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