KOHAT: Major trade centres here have been occupied by the Afghan nationals who deal in almost everything under the sun, thus denting the businesses of the local people.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, vice-president of Kohat Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hafiz Rasheed said Afghans dealt in almost everything, selling fruit and vegetables, carpets, footwear and other items smuggled from Iran. He revealed that 40 per cent of the cloth shops in Kohat were owned by Afghans, and criticised the local administration for giving free hand to Afghans.

Mr Rasheed said rent of a shop had gone up to Rs20,000 from Rs3,000 because paying higher rents was not a problem with Afghans as almost every member of the family earned money in one way or the other. “All the members of an Afghan family can work in the shop so the owner doesn’t have to hire anyone from outside and pay him salary. Moreover, most Afghans live in refugee camps where they enjoy free electricity and food and are exempted from paying taxes,” he explained.

The KCCI leader maintained that all the fruit shops and handcarts were owned by Afghans and they mutually decided on what rate they needed to charge from customers. He said this practice had led to rise in prices of commodities.

A local family, which sold fruit for over 30 years, had to close their business because they could not compete with their Afghan rivals. Similarly, a watch seller whose shop existed in the main bazaar since independence was forced to shut his business because Afghans dealing in the business have flooded the local markets.

The businessman pointed out that another major problem faced by the local people was that due to permanent settlement of Afghans in Kohat prices of land and rent of houses had gone up considerably. Even in remote areas where per kanal land was available for Rs300,000 is now being developed and sold for Rs3.5 million. Rent of a house used to be around Rs5,000 per month, which has been jacked up to Rs18,000 to Rs20,000, he noted.

Mr Rasheed said the property rates surged after Afghans started buying land in bulk and raised structures. He added that local transport business was also in their hands. He suggested that the government devise a mechanism to provide relief to the local people.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2016