FAIZABAD (SW) – Rampant illegal mining of precious and semiprecious stones and metals in Badakhshan has denied the government revenue collection, an official confirmed.
According to Mohammad Maqsud Asfiya, head of finance department, revenues worth AFN 248.4 million were collected in the fiscal year 1399 (Hijri Shamsi), but due to illegal extraction, not a penny could be added to the government’s kitty from mining sector.
“The sources of income in Badakhshan are very limited, and as per the mining sector, Badakhshan is a province rich in underground resources such as gold, lapis lazuli and other precious and semi-precious stones, but they are not yet legally extracted and no revenue is being added to the government’s kitty,” said Mohammad Maqsoud Asfia.
He said if mining becomes legal and mining companies start mining through a formal contract, the government will receive a lot of revenue from this sector. He said that the reform of the administrative system and the simplification of revenue collection methods have led to an increase in the revenues in other sectors.
Residents of Badakhshan, however, say they do not receive the necessary services in proportion to the taxes they pay to the government.
A shopkeeper in the central city of Faizabad, Badakhshan, said poverty has hampered people’s purchasing power, which means little income and that makes paying the annual tax of AFN 2000 difficult.
Mohammad Saber, another resident of Badakhshan, said many corrupt government officials with relatively lower salaries quickly become owners of their own homes and cars and start living lavishly, which proves their corruption.
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