Logar roads in dilapidated condition

PUL-I-ALAM (PAN): Bomb blasts, snow and rainfalls have damaged 70 percent of roads in central Logar province, residents said on Sunday.

Asadullah, who drives a taxi on the Kabul-Gardez road, said half of the highway had been destroyed as a result of the ongoing conflict.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News both government and residents had failed to preserve the roads built with foreign assistance.

The driver said he would reach Gardez in two and a half hours in the past, but it took 30 minutes more to cover the distance due to the shabby road condition.

Provincial council secretary Abdul Khaliq Khairkhwa acknowledged the Gardez-Kabul highway and other roads in districts had turned into ruins because of the poor quality of work.

He said the ongoing conflict had also contributed to the rundown condition of roads. Khairkhwa alleged the public works department was rife with corruption and had not been able to preserve roads

An official at the governor’s house admitted corruption in the department was rampant. He said the governor’s office and the provincial council had joined hands to fight administrative graft in all departments.

A Pul-i-Alam resident, Ibrahim, said roads in the provincial capital and districts had not been built property and damaged after construction.

Huge cracks and bumps could be seen on roads across the province, hindering traffic flow.

Public works department officials said they had been able to construct several roads, but they cited a paucity of funds as a major concern.

The department head, Abdul Baqi Stanikzai, acknowledged that most of roads in Logar had been damaged as a result of landmines and heavy vehicles.

However, he complained lack of also funds undermined his department’s efforts at reconstructing damaged portions.

The director said some roads had been built under agreements between foreign troops and private firms and his department had been given no authority to look after the projects.

Stanikzai said construction firms were responsible for repairing the roads they had built for three years.

Roads in the provincial capital have been built by the US provincial reconstruction). Logar has eight districts and six of them have paved roads.

ma/mud

 

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