Loaded trucks wait for clearance outside the Kharlachi customs station in Kurram Agency on Pak-Afghan border. — Dawn

PESHAWAR: Two Customs officials sat cross-legged on the dirt floor in a small compound making entries of goods being exported to Afghanistan. A tiny room in the compound is being used as office as well as accommodation facility by the staff.

Behind the compound, loaded trucks are parked in a long queue on the road and the nearby fields. These truckers are waiting for clearance to cross over the Durand Line. This is Kharlachi, a notified Customs facility some 15 kilometres southwest of Parachinar, Kurram Agency.

Kharlachi, a small border crossing, where a Customs station generates millions of dollars through cross border trade, is a perfect eyesore. Trade worth billions of rupees is taking place in a haphazard manner.

“We have office, but can’t sit inside, because of non-availability of electricity,” said an official looking towards his calculator.

Encapsulated in a series of barren mountains, this peaceful little town has become a hub of trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian States. One of the few compounds in the desolate neighbourhood houses a clearance office of the Pakistan Customs, where every bit of work is done manually.

There is no electricity, desk or counter for truckers, bank and parking lot at the notified Customs facility

The reason is there is no electricity, desk or counter for truckers, bank and parking lot for the trucks. Loading and unloading facilities do not exist at all. “A proposal is under consideration to purchase land from local tribes to build proper Customs facility,” the official said.

Officials said that increase in trade had generated employment opportunities for local people and every labourer earned up to Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 daily. Local people have established small hotels and parking terminals where truckers can make overnight stay.

Total volume of export at Kharlachi was $27.66 million in May last. About 79,194 metric tonnes of goods worth $27.66 million were exported to Afghanistan, said the official. Volume of unofficial trade activities taking place in the area may be more than the legal trade.

Contrary to the brisk activity taking place at the Customs offices from morning till evening, makeshift arrangements have been made for clearance of goods. Soldiers of the Frontier Corps occupying wooden stools are manning main crossing point, allowing trucks to roll into Afghan territory after getting clearance from the Customs officials.

Dilapidated condition of the main road from Thall to Kharlachi is unfit for heavy traffic. Drivers feel discomfort because of potholes and patches on the road, which is being used for international trade.

“We face two problems here. One, poor condition of the road and second (illegal) demands of money by security personnel at checkposts and checkpoints from Thall to Kharlachi,” complained a driver, who belongs to Lakki Marwat district. “Drivers have to pay Rs18,000 extra per truck at different checkposts,” he said

Borki, about two kilometres north of Kharlachi, has also been declared Customs clearance station with Afghanistan. Here trade activities are nominal, but it is largely used for human traffic between the two countries. At Borki border crossing point political administration has deployed personnel of Kurram Levies Force.

Not only trade activities, this is also a checkpost for those crossing the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Levies man guarding the crossing point having a large size notebook in his hand has been deputed to enroll names of visitors, who come and go to Pakistan or Afghanistan.

“Visitors from both sides don’t need passport and they have to register their names, place of origin and visit in the two countries,” said the guard.

People cross the border without passport despite the fact that Right Easement, a provision in the Durand Line Agreement does not apply on some tribes on both sides of the border. This provision applies only on astride tribes on both sides of the border.

Maintenance of register seems to be part of the Islamabad’s much publicised National Action Plan that was unveiled after terrorist attack on Army Public School and College Peshawar on December 16, 2014. The Levies man said that directives had been issued two months ago to enlist names of visitors.

Free cross-border movement and haphazard trade activities show that Pakistan has no border management with its western neighbour. Immigration facility does not exist at key crossing points to regularise movement except Torkham in Khyber Agency and Chaman in Balochistan.

Official trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan is about $2 billion apart from billion of rupees unofficial trade, but the government and its relevant agencies have turned a blind eye to it.

The federal government had planned to establish proper transit facilities along the Afghan border in 1999. Construction of transit facilities at Torkham, Kharlachi, Borki and Ghulam Khan was included in the plan which has yet to be materialised.

Officials said that the government was negotiating with the local tribe for the acquisition of land for the construction of transit facilities at Landi Kotal and Kharlachi.

The government needs minimum 80-kanal land at Kharlachi for construction of trade complex.

Syed Jamshed, a tribesman, said that owners had offered lands to authorities for establishment of transit facility at Kharlachi, but the government was reluctant.

He said that people were happy with boom in trade activities in the area and the government should take more measures for increasing bilateral trade. “We have offered different sites near the border and offered the government to construct the facility. This is up to the government to select proper place,” he said.

An official told Dawn in Peshawar that a proposal was under consideration to declare Kharlachi as transit route. Presently, he said, Kharlachi was seasonal Customs station and it would generate revenue once it was declared a transit route.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2015

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