Nato supplies: $1000/truck tax proposed
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Communication Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan has proposed a levy of $1000 on each truck transporting vital supplies to NATO forces deployed in Afghanistan through Pakistan against the damage caused to the roads day in day out, Geo News reported.
The federal minister said this while talking to newsmen after addressing the closing session of Road Committee of ECO Transit Transport Coordination Council (TTCC) in Islamabad.
Khan told reporters the heavy NATO containers have left 26 percent of the main highways in deteriorated condition and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of these roads cost $1.36 billion.
The National High Authority network connects Pakistan to Afghanistan via three routes having a total length of 4,046 km. Before Pakistan imposed a ban on the NATO supplies almost 250 to 300 super-heavy NATO containers pounded them everyday.
According to media reports, nearly 70 percent of the NATO supplies were shipped into Afghanistan via the land route of Pakistan.
The NATO supplies to Afghanistan are first sent to the port city of Karachi and then transported into Afghanistan for over 140,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan through the two border checkpoints via the land route of Pakistan.
Pakistan halted NATO supplies to Afghanistan following a cross- border attack by NATO forces on two border check posts of the Pakistan army. The attack left 24 soldiers dead and deteriorated the relations between Pakistan and the United States.
Speaking on the highlights of ECO TTCC meeting, he said that member states would issue “white cards” on the lines of European Union along with a common visa for drivers traveling across the ECO states.