Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The Center has asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Government to close down around 600 local arms manufacturing factories functioning in the province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Frontier Regions of the province.

The move will deprive thousands of skillful workers from their earning and an outstanding potential of arm making markets would affect badly.

There are hundreds of small units and shops where local arms manufactured and export to other parts of the country, additionally the skillful workers at the local arms factories have the potential to make export quality of short guns and pistol.

The major units of the arm manufacturing are located at Landikotal, Jamrud of Khyber Agency, Mohmand and Bajaur Agencies, FRs regions, Dara-Adamkhel and Peshawar city.

The local market of arms of the Fata and FRs has largely captured the national market of arms and has received customers satisfaction from long time, additionally the factories have provided employments to thousands families of the province and tribal belt.

Talking to this scribe on the request of anonymity a owner of the three arms manufacturing units, said that government has been using various tactics to sweep over the arms factories nettled at the region and trying to jobless thousands workers attached with the arms manufacturing industries. He said the government should utilize the potential instead of spoil them by their immature policies.

If the government provided its support and assistance for specialized arms manufacturing units the holistic arms market could be challenged by the skillful workers, he maintained.

Pistols and shotguns made in the arms factories have passed quality tests in the United States and the United Kingdom but our national government never pasid attention towards this potential and industries.

A mere sample of any short weapon that manufactured at foreign with modern machines could be prepared by the workers working in these factories in limited resources he added.

A truck drive at the Peshawar stand told this scribe that the demand of weapons was on the rise and arms dealers in Punjab and Sindh had no other option but to ask suppliers to bring weapons from Fata and FRs of KP.

Punjab was the top recipient of arms made in the KP and Fata but they face issues by getting their required arms due to the government policy against unlicensed arms mobility in the country, he added.

Truck drivers play a central role in transporting arms to other parts of the country and customers around the country have shown their satisfaction.

The officials of the Home Department said that central government has not asked for the closure of the arms manufacturing units in KP and FATA but for registration.

They said that government wants to keep the records of the arms manufacturing units and have no intention to close them down abruptly.