MULTAN: Customs employees are facing lack of basic facilities during their job at Multan Dry Port. The Multan Dry Port is the only dry port in South Punjab. Multan Dry Port provides facilities to its local importers and exporters of the south region.
Customs employees performing their duties at the Multan Dry Port are facing severe shortages of basic facilities. Basically building in which Customs department and Multan Dry Port Trust are operating was terminal shed of the Multan Dry Port but they were converted into offices some few years back.
Multan Dry Port is the only facilitator in the location for the business community for their business import and export in the South Punjab belt. South Punjab have its unique importance in the sectors of agriculture as it produces cotton ,wheat, sugar ,fruits and vegetables for whole Pakistan.
Multan Dry Port Trust is the managing authority of the Multan Dry Port now but they are ignoring the basic facilities for the customs staff which deployed at the Multan Dry Port for performing their services.
Deputy Collector Multan Dry Port remained under renovation process from more than one year. Deputy Collector Office has been shifted in another place for short period of time until the completion of renovation. Multan Dry Port has no proper record room and lack of store rooms to store records of major documents at the Multan Dry Port. Sources told Customs Today that grade 16 officers have no lock for their cupboards. Importers documents are always lying on every table where there is huge possibility of missing any document.
According to Customs section 14-A, provisions of security and accommodation is the prime responsibility of port authorities which manages the port and Multan port is currently managed by the Multan Dry Port Trust. Any agency or person managing or owing a customs port, shall provide at its or his own cost adequate security and accommodation to customs staff and officers. While other departmental requirements like examination of goods, detention and storage of goods to be determined by the Collector of Customs, port authorities are responsible to accommodate the customs for performing their duties.
Multan Dry Port have no arrangement of cold water at the Multan Dry Port and customs staff have contributed and purchases a small fridge for cold water . In the hot summer customs staff is also facing issue that if the fan of their office damages then they have replace the fan with their own expanses and even a single switch of shoe can be replace after couple of months.
Due to poor internet service at Multan Dry Port, Customs staff facing issues in assessing the WEBOC. Even customs staffs at Multan Dry Port unable to receive the FBR notifications and valuation gateway on time which create hurdles in performing their responsibilities.
Customs staff is complaining about the load shedding that they cannot perform their duties in Power shortages as their computers have no uninterrupted power supply at the time of load shedding in the hot summer.
