(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): Traders and truck drivers in northeastern Kunduz province complain staff of the Sher Khan Bandar municipality has been extorting money from them.
Shamsullah, a trader, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the municipality fleeced them at the port and in Kunduz City, the provincial capital.
€œThe extortion would cause the customs department to collapse because traders would try to withdraw their investments,€ he reasoned.
Another trader, Sayed Jalal, also said THE municipality of Sher Khan Bandar border town sought bribes from them. €œThis practice has caused government revenue to fall,€
Meanwhile, truckers voiced similar complaints. Rahimullah, a truck driver, told Pajhwok the money should be given to the municipality where the trucks unload goods.
€œWhenever we load goods at Sher Khan Bandar, the municipality takes money from us illegally. When we unload goods in Mazar-I-Sharif, we have to pay money to the municipality there too. This practice should be stopped.€
Mohibullah, mayor of Sher Khan Bandar municipality, said: €œI am not in office; my administrative manager will talk to you about this.€
But the administrative manager, when contacted, argued the mayor should talk on the issue.
Despite several attempts, Pajhwok Afghan News failed to get comments from the port€™s municipality on the alleged extortionist practice.
On the other hand, Kunduz governor€™s spokesman Esmatullah Muradi confirmed they had received similar complaints. He said efforts were underway to prevent extortions.
Besides Kunduz, truck drivers in Kabul and other provinces of the country also complain about money extortions, but no decisive action has so far taken on the regard.
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