Washer residents lack basic amenities of life

LASHKARGAH (PAN): Residents of Washer district in southern Helmand province say the security situation has improved in the town, but they lack basic amenities of life.

Washer district, which borders Farah province, is 80 kilometres south of Lashkargah, the provincial capital. Security forces wrested the area from insurgents a month back, ending the four-year reign of the Taliban.

Residents of the district said the security situation improved after security forces took control of the district.  However, they urged the Afghan government and international community to launch reconstruction projects there.

One resident, Hamidullah, said the district lacks health clinics, schools and other facilities.

He also said the militants had planted bombs on the road leading to Lashkargah. The bombs often explode on civilian vehicles, he said.

Another resident, Haji Noor Mohammad, said the city’s drainage system needs to be overhauled. He said the residents have no access to clean drinking water and that unhygienic water has caused disease to spread.

He urged the government to provide clean drinking water to the residents of Lashkargah and to launch development schemes to provide work opportunities for unemployed youth.

Pacha, another resident, said the Taliban militants had left the area and it was the time for the government to start reconstruction projects.

oh/mm/ma/at