KABUL (Pajhwok): The government lost millions of dollars in revenue to tax exemption on import of fuel for foreign troops through the Heratan dry port, a Wolesi Jirga delegation has learnt.
The lower house deputy secretary, Erfanullah Erfan, who headed a nine-member delegation to Heratan dry port in Balkh province and Aaqnina dry port in Faryab province, told Wednesday’s session that they observed 28,000 letters that showed private companies had imported fuel in the name of supply to foreign troops over the past few years.
Due to the tax exemption on supplies for foreign troops, the government suffered millions of dollars losses in revenue and the evidence in this regard needed to be carefully investigated by a professional delegation, he said, claiming that some government officials were complicit in the corruption
“If the government wants to increase its revenue, it should remove corruption from customs departments and dry ports. If all dry ports of the country are investigated, the corrupt would be identified,” he said.
He also mentioned a foreign company, Geocam Group, responsible for quality control of imports at the two dry ports which earned millions of dollars in daily revenue.
On the basis of the contract with the foreign firm, the company submitted five percent income to the Afghanistan National Standards Authority (ANSA), he said.
“In the presence of ANSA, there is no need for the company, it also allows the import of low quality products,” he said.
The Wolesi Jirga summoned finance, commerce and foreign affairs ministers and the head of fuel imports at the Ministry of Commerce to answer questions from lawmakers about the tax exemption on fuel by the private sector.
The foreign minister, the deputy ministers of finance, commerce and the director of fuel department attended yesterday session.
But lawmaker Gulam Hussain Nasiri said the deputy ministers should leave because they had summoned ministers.
“The issue should have been thoroughly discussed by commissions before its inclusion in the agenda. The time of ministers should not be wasted every day,” another MP, Abdul Qadar Zazai said.
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