Mustang. Staff have been added to Mustang Customs and Plant 9Vanaspati 0 Quarantine Office in Lomanthang Rural Municipality-4 Nhechung, Nepal-China North Korla border.
The Customs Department has made final preparations to deploy 6 more employees for Mustang Customs, while the Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Center has already sent three employees to Mustang.
Head of Mustang Customs Office Vidur Chudal informed that with the complete closure of the (Rasuwagadhi-Kerung) checkpoint due to the devastating flood at Bhotekoshi in Rasuwa, the Customs Department has prepared to send 6 employees to the customs office at Korla checkpoint in Mustang. According to him, the customs department has prepared to send three officers and three deputy sub-level employees to the customs office.
"Preparations have been made to appoint three officers and Naib Subba, their arrival has been delayed due to continuous holidays", said Chief of Customs Chudal, "The assigned staff will arrive at the workplace on the day the office opens." According to him, there are 18 posts in the Mustang Customs Office.
Currently, Mustang Customs has only 12 employees. With the complete closure of the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border crossing, the Customs Department is going to fill the posts of staff in the Mustang Customs Office according to the vacancy. With the complete closure of Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani crossings, it is expected that Mustang's Korla crossing will be established as an alternative route.
Chief of Customs Chudal mentioned that the Mustang Customs and Quarantine Office has been activated after the closure of the Kerung border crossing and the materials stopped were being sent back to the Korla border crossing. He said that although more staff were to be hired, there was a challenge in management due to the problem of accommodation and physical infrastructure.
"The customs office was activated twice a year for a limited time only when the Korla border crossing was not fully operational and only for the citizens of Upper Mustang, for a short period of time. At that time, there were only few employees in the customs. With the opening of Korla crossing in Mustang on 31 August 2082, manpower was added to the customs", he said.
Quarantine office was established in the year 2062/63. He said that despite the establishment of the quarantine office, the office could not operate smoothly due to the lack of manpower and quarantine testing equipment. There is a staff of five people in the quarantine office in Nhechung, but one technical assistant is working.
Chief Chudal mentioned that due to Bhotekoshi flood in Rasuwa (Rasuwagadhi-Kerung) border was closed and Tatopani border was not operational, the quarantine office in Mustang was activated.
According to him, the Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Center under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Environment has already sent some employees to Mustang because hundreds of containers of fruits sent from Rasuwagadhi-Kerung to Korla have to be quarantined.
According to Bandana Ghartimar, Acting Chief and Technical Assistant of the Quarantine Office at Lomanthang-4 Nhechung, Mustang, three employees have arrived in Jomsom for quarantine. Chief Ghartimagar mentioned that the center has sent a senior crop protection officer (one) and a computer operator (one) to work in Mustang in coordination with the customs department.
Chief of Customs Chudal said that information has been received from the department about the necessary coordination of the personnel coming for quarantine. Along with this, the performance of the Mustang Customs Office and the Quarantine Office here is seen to be more dynamic. According to him, after the closure of Rasuwagarhina, more than 50 containers are coming towards Korla port every day to bring goods.
National News Committee is the official news organization of Nepal.
