Kandahar governor warns against metal trafficking

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): The governor of southern Kandahar province on Thursday said he would not allow anyone to traffic metal to abroad and serious efforts were underway to stop the illegal practice.

Kandahar Governor Mohammad Yousuf Wafa made the remarks during a meeting with members of the Afghanistan Metal Traders Union.

Ismatullah Wardak, a member of the union, said there were currently eight metal smelting factories in the country with an investment of about $500 million.

He said that about 20,000 jobs have been created with the operation of these factories and efforts are being made to increase the number of metal processing plants.

He stressed the need to curb metal smuggling and said that with the arrival of the new government, activities of metal processing factories have increased.

Members of the union travel to all provinces of the country to collect scrap metal and process it in factories, he said.

Kandahar Governor Mohammad Yousuf Wafa said that no one is allowed to traffic metal from the country to abroad and efforts were on to totally stop the illegal practice.

He said that he had directed security forces to crack down on metal traffickers who he added would be severely punished if captured.

He also thanked the officials of the union for providing jobs to thousands of people across the country and called on traders to invest in other areas as well as there were no any threats to their businesses in the country.

These statements come as scrap metal, military equipment and even vehicles are still trafficked to neighboring countries.

There are also seal video clips on social media that show trafficking of metal and military equipment from Afghanistan across the Durand Line.

Traders, meanwhile, are calling for a solution to the shortage of electricity to metal and other factories so to help them have normal operations.

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