Kalam hoteliers refuse to pay proposed taxes

MINGORA: The hoteliers in the scenic Kalam Valley have refused to pay taxes being levied by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Department in Swat district.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kalam Hotels Association president Rahmat Din Siddiqui, senior vice-president Faqir Jan and others said that Kalam Valley was the main spot for the tourists in Swat district but the Tourism Department had planned to impose taxes.

They said that the KP Tourism Department had categorised various hotels in Kalam, which will force the owners to close down the hotel industry in Swat Valley. They said that heavy taxes were being levied on the hotels, which was not acceptable to them at any cost.

The hotels’ owners said that imposition of taxes would be resisted tooth and nail if the government tried to do so. They said that Swat had been affected by decades long militancy, frequent floods and earthquakes that badly impacted the hotel industry as well.

“The government, instead of imposing taxes, must support the hotel industry in Swat to stand on its feet,” Faqir Jan said, adding that it should also provide uninterrupted power supply, open the roads blocked by heavy snow and support the hotel industry. The owners also opposed the imposition of Section 4 on the sale and purchase of land in Swat district.