A meeting of the Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Truck Container Workers Association, Nepal Transport Independent Workers Union and the Nepal Himalayan Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry decided to release these trucks which have remained stranded in the jungle around Khasa on the Chinese side of the border for the past week due to a protest launched by container workers.

The workers had begun an agitation after the police arrested a number of them for questioning following the death of one Gyanu Raj Thakuri who was killed in a hit-and-run incident in Panchkhal-3, Kavre last week.

The police had taken six

container workers into

custody from Sindhupalchok and two of them are still in the lock-up.

Traders have also expressed their support for the workers’ demonstration and said that the issue should be settled through negotiation. The traders association said that containers containing goods on which customs had been paid would be allowed to depart while the others would not be allowed to clear customs until the issue is settled.

Around 1,200 container trucks plying the Nepal-China route have been affected since the workers launched the agitation against the administration. “As the trucks that have cleared customs have not been allowed to leave for Kathmandu, the customs yard has become overcrowded. As a result, other trucks have not been able to enter Tatopani,” said Divya Raj Pokhrel, chief of the customs office. “The agitation has affected the government’s revenue collection target too.”

Similarly, Kamal Kumar Shrestha, president of the Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that they had not been able to ship winter clothes to Kathmandu due to the strike. “Traders are facing problems as they don’t know how long the agitation will continue.” Normally, readymade garments for the winter season, apple and garlic, among other products, are imported from China during this time of the year. “Containers laden with Chinese apples targeted for festivals like Maghe Sankranti have been released for two days,” said Durga Bahadur Shrestha, president of the Workers Union Araniko Route Unit. He added that the police had arrested the workers without any evidence.

The Nepal Transport Independent Workers Union said that the workers

launched the protest movement since the administration had been harassing them without any reason.

The arrested workers have denied any involvement in the hit-and-run incident. Kavre police said that they had

been holding some workers for questioning, and that

their intention was not

to harass them.

In September last year, more than 1,000 Nepal-bound container trucks packed with goods were stranded on a stretch of the highway in Khasa as the road to Kathmandu was cut off. Traders said that the goods in the parked containers at the Tatopani Customs Yard had been damaged by rain.