Sost [PoGB], July 31 : The ongoing protest at Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan's (PoGB) Sost dry port is now creating problems for tourists who are trying to enter or leave the area through the customs office situated in Sost, Pamir Times, a local news outlet from PoGB, reported on Wednesday.
This protest has now reached its third day and several foreign nationals have been stranded outside the customs office waiting for their turn for customs clearance.
Custom clearance has also been halted in the dry port because of the protest. However, the same report claimed that no customs official has reached them to address the ongoing issue.
According to a previous report by the Pamir Times, the protest was organized by the traders who are involved in cross-border trade between China and Pakistan through Sost, complaining that the customs officials have been imposing illegal taxes, despite a court order by the Chief Court of PoGB which restrained the customs authorities from collecting sales tax, income tax, and additional sales tax from local importers and exporters at the South Border Station until the final decision of the case. However, the traders allege that the customs officers and the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) are employing tactics to delay the implementation of the court order.
A foreign national who had been waiting for three days said that they had been waiting for more than two days and had been contacting their respective embassies as there was no other way to solve the problem. Another female protester said that some buses had crossed the border a day before but they could not get onto those buses because of the delay in customs but now the entire customs setup has been halted, as the Pamir Times report mentioned.
The stranded foreign nationals include Chinese who are being forced to overstay in Pakistan because of the delay in customs clearance. "They keep saying the office will open tomorrow but this has not happened yet. We are Chinese and cannot cross the border because there is no customs clearance."
A trader from Quetta who wanted to cross the border for trading purposes had mentioned that "I have been waiting for clearance for at least five days. It was before the protest, and we have been waiting here and are forced to stay in hotels. In a group, only Chinese nationals were allowed to cross the border and we were again not cleared. The group that was cleared earlier included some Pakistani nationals who had bribed the officials and we denied all permissions."
A trader who was participating in a sit-in said, "We also don't have any options. We are just demanding the officials and the Customs department impose the court order issued by PoGB's Chief Court. Initially, when the court's order was not implemented, we raised complaints but no one listened to us. But if our one-point agenda of tax is not accepted, then we will be forced to strengthen the protest further."
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