According to Mustang Chief District Officer Laxmi Raj Sharma Gautam, the government has been losing millions in tax money because of the customs closure. [break]
“For all these years, a tax office has been operating only in Jomsom, headquarters of Mustang district, and even there we can hardly find any personnel working a full day,” said Gautam. “Since the customs office at Nechung is not in operation, we are unable to tax day to day Nepal-Tibet business transactions.”
Piles of clothing and other daily use products along with domestic animals such as sheep come to Mustang from Tibet and products like apples, yarsagumba and herbs are exported to Tibet. They all pass through Nechung customs office without paying any tax.
Gautam said that he has informed government authorities and entities concerned but no one had come up with any solution so far. “We have requested the authorities to post personnel at Nechung customs as soon as possible,” he added.
Meanwhile, the tax office at Jomsom is run only by two peons and even they are hard to find during office hours.
“There are currently three officers at the tax office at Jomsom, but they only show up to collect their salaries and remain off duty most of the time,” said Gautam.
According to ACAP (Annapurna Conservation Area Project) Mustang, smuggling of herbs across the border has been rampant in recent years. “Since the customs office is not manned, people are openly smuggling herbs across the border,” said Santosh Sherchan, chief of ACAP Mustang.
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