KARACHI: Chief Collector-Appraisement South Abdul Rashid Shaikh, following the directives of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to start a crackdown against the corrupt elements in Pakistan Customs Services, it is learnt here.
The sources informed Customs Today that the Chief Collector-Appraisement South is going to hold an important meeting of the collectors of all three field formation Collectorates i.e. Customs Appraisement East, West and Customs Port Qasim over the issue of corruption being reported in the respective Collectorates.
The sources informed that the Chief Collector-Appraisement South has some information that some Customs officials are allegedly involved in clearing the consignments by taking hefty amounts from the importers, adding that the officials are demanding bribe in clearing the consignments.
Replying to a query, the sources disclosed that the Chief Collector-Appraisement South in a days or two would call a meeting of the senior officers of all three field formation Collectorates in this regard and also seeking their suggestion in order to initiate decisive action against the corrupt elements in the department.
It is pertinent to mention here that the FBR have already written a letter to the Chief Collector-Appraisement South in this regard in which they demanding effective action against those Customs officials who are involved in mal-practicing during clearance of the consignments.
It may be mentioned here that the Collector Port Muhammad Bin Qasim, Mukarram Jah Ansari has already directed to stop the clearance of cloths’ consignments, as the Collector has received some information that some importers are involved in clearing the consignments by using false means.
The sources further informed that the Federal government has clear directives to the Chairman FBR Nisar Muhammad Khan and Member Customs Nasir Masoor Ahmad to take cohesive actions against the “black sheep” present in the department, so that transparency could be intact in clearance of the consignments and the revenue generation could be enhanced.
