TARIN KOT (SW) – Ooman is a mountainous herb and grows naturally in the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan, especially in Uruzgan province, but the locals now say that its rampant smuggling is going unchecked.
Residents of Gizab and Khas Uruzgan districts of Uruzgan province told Salam Watandar that some companies have hired residents of these districts as day laborers to collect “Ooman” plants from the mountains.
Abdul Ghafar, a resident of Gizab district, said that they receive for 4 kilograms of “Ooman” about 25 afghanis and earn up to 3,000 afghanis per day.
Another resident of the district, Syed Rahim, told Salam Watandar that the Islamic Emirate need to stop the smuggling of this herb.
Agricultural experts say that this mountain plant is very valuable and that it is used in a number of medicinal plants.
Professor Ahmadullah Ahmadi, a lecturer on agriculture at the Uruzgan Institute of Higher Education, told Salam Watandar that the price of a kilogram of medicine made from the Ooman plant in the international market is more than $ 300. “Ooman” is found only in Asian countries, especially in the mountains of Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province, he said.
Mullah Mohammad Asif, director of information and culture in Uruzgan, said the Ooman plant is very valuable and that the government had strongly opposed its smuggling. He warned that the smugglers would be severely punished. “We know that the Ooman plant is a valuable plant. We do not allow anyone to smuggle this plant out. Anyone who does this will be severely punished.”
Afghanistan is a rich country with a wide variety of natural resources, but the criticism is that the government has not utilized these resources properly and from time to time local powerful and common people have smuggled it illegally.
ENDS
