LOWER DIR: The Dir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) on Tuesday announced to convene a jirga of elders and traders from across the Malakand division and the adjoining tribal districts to devise a mechanism to thwart the government’s move to impose taxes in the region.

Talking to reporters here, DCCI president Syed Noor Alam Badshah said the business community also planned to protest if the government went ahead with its plan to impose taxes from July this year.

He said militancy, counter-terrorism operations, mass displacements, flash floods and earthquakes had already wrecked havoc in Malakand division.

Mr Badshah said the residents depended on incomes from tourism and working abroad. He said the successive governments neglected the division’s backward districts as residents were deprived of education, healthcare, gas, electricity and clean drinking water facilities. He said the traders and residents would oppose the imposition of taxes without first initiating development projects in the region.

Dir chamber leader says jirga to be convened on matter

He said the former Dir, Swat and Chitral states had signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan at the time of their merger with the country that there would be no taxes in their areas. He said the local chambers of commerce and industry had also objected to taxes in utility bills.

He said traders’ bodies and local politicians were on the same page on the issue and the jirga would prepare a future course of action if the government didn’t reverse the decision regarding the imposition of taxes in the region.

The DCCI leader also condemned the Timergara municipal administration for imposing signboard tax on traders, and demanded its withdrawal. He said excessive power outages had harmed the business activities.

AUCTION: The Lower Dir administration on Tuesday issued a schedule for holding the bidding process for exploitation of minerals from March 26.

The interested parties and firms have been asked to get registered with the directorate general mines and minerals, and properly apply for the participation in the auction.

Meanwhile, the administration provided relief items to families hit by recent rains and snowfall in Maidan area. Lal Qila assistant commissioner Noor Zali Khan visited the affected families and handed them relief items.

Also on Tuesday, the administration resumed the five-day anti-polio vaccination drive in the district, which was postponed due to bad weather. The review meeting chaired by deputy commissioner Wasil Khan was informed that 345,133 children would be vaccinated by 1,337 teams.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2024