HERAT CITY - Traders in western Herat province on Monday warned of closing the Industrial Park if the government failed to respond to the customs situation and drivers’ strike within 10 days.
Traders and investors of Herat province warmed of continued highway blockade in the west of the country during a press conference here.
Truck owners, who lost their vehicles to a massive fire in Islam Qala port in Herat, have blocked the Herat-Islam Qala and Herat-Torghandi highways, demanding the government to compensate their loss.
Traders, investors and officials of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Herat province talked about bad consequences resulting from highway closures and said that hundreds of cargo trucks had been stopped in Islam Qala port and across the border and they incurred millions of dollars losses.
Ahmad SayeedAzimyan, deputy head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, criticized the government’s indifferent attitude about the Islam Qala and said that more than 600 cargo trucks loaded with commercial goods entered Herat from Torghandi and Islam Qala ports daily, but the process has stalled since the last two weeks.
“A countdown has started for emergence of a disaster in Herat, it means that if the government fails to respond to challenges including rampant corruption in customs and protests of drivers within 10 days, the Industrial Park where more than 25,000 people work would be closed and all warehouses of food and other items would be emptied,” he said.
Abdul LatifQanawizyan, deputy head of Chamber of Commerce and Investment in Herat, warned that the prices of food items and petroleum would increase by 30 percent as a result of continued closure of highways.
He said that business activities would face full stagnation in Herat if the situation was not controlled.
Meanwhile, cargo truck owners who have been on strike since a week, say that the government is yet to give a convincing response to them.
They warned that they would not let entrance of transit vehicles on Herat-Islam Qala and Herat-Torghandi highways if their losses were not compensated.
Herat governor Sayed Abdul Waheed Qalati said that the losses in Islam Qala fire and causes of the blaze had been studied by a delegation of the government and its report had been shared with the president.
He asked the protestors not to damage ordinary people by closing the country’s highways.
Around two months back, more than 700 cargo trucks were destroyed in a massive fire in Islam Qala port. (Pajhwok)