Polish PRT not closed, executes 157 projects

KABUL) in southern Ghazni has been closed.

Igor Pawlowics, charge d’affaires at the embassy, said the Pajhwok correspondent had failed to check information regarding the PRT provided by Ghazni Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada.

In a statement, Pawlowics explained Regional Command East Senior Civilian Representative Ms Karen Decker had only said: “The PRT in Ghazni has accomplished a lot and has changed a lot since I was a member back in 2007.”   

The story erroneously suggested the reconstruction part of the Polish PRT had finalised its activities in Ghazni, he said. “Secondly, your journalist failed to check information provided by the governor, who stated PRTs could not prove how the money for development aid was spent.”

At her press conference, Decker said the US was currently providing assistance through Afghan ministries rather than the American PRT. “As you can see, the closure of the Polish PRT has not been mentioned at all,” the charge d’affaires said.

He continued activities of the PRT, as well as other elements of Polish forces in Afghanistan and the Afghan government.

As planned, the PRT would finish its projects in November 2013 and then continue as a smaller consultative team within the Polish military contingent in Ghazni until the Forward Operating Base in Ghazni was handed over to US forces in April 2014.

In 2008, the PRT implemented a project of supplying electricity to the Anguri area of Jaghori district at a cost of $100, 000. Two years later, a $96,000 hydroelectric power plant was built in Gilan was built.

Similarly, a project aimed at the reconstruction of roads in Ghazni City was completed at a cost of $617,191. According to the Polish embassy official, the PRT executed 157 development projects in Ghazni from 2008 to 2012.

“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that all these projects were done in consultation with Ghazni authorities…we always hold on to the rule that local companies should be implementing the projects,” he concluded.

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