Ban on the transportation of illegally cut wood from Northern Areas (NAs) has brought timber business in Dargai, Malakand Agency to standstill, rendering 300 truck drivers and loaders jobless.
Talking to Business Recorder, President of Timber Association Dargai Haji Abdul Wakil Khan said that a huge sum of timber merchants' money was stuck-up and thousands cubic feet of timber being rusted for last one year due to bureaucratic red-tape.
He said that Kashmir Affairs, Northern Areas and Frontier Region Division through a circular issued on dated September 2, 2003 allowed transportation of illegally cut timber, but a day after cancelled the order due to reasons best known to officials of the ministry.
The Timber Merchant Association in a letter addressed to President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has appealed to lift ban on transportation of illegally cut wood for a period of six months and save the market from a total collapse.