Delhi pledges 1,000 buses in aid to Kabul

KABUL to help the war-devastated country improve its public transport system, the deputy transport and civil aviation minister said.

Jarullah Mansoori told a seminar “Quality Transport Services for People, in Kabul that the Indian assistance would resolve to considerable degree transportation problems in all major cities, including Kabul.

“Other nations don’t keep private cars because they have an advanced public transport system, but here in Afghanistan, many people use taxis as they lack the services,” he said.

Kabul residents often complain about their inability to afford hiring taxis for being expensive. A Chehl Sotoon resident, Zabihullah, paid 20 afghanis to a taxi for going to the main bazaar and the distance, he said, would cost him five afghanis if it was a public transport bus.

Milli Bus Service chief Ahmad Nazeer Razaee told the seminar that Afghanistan had received 931 buses, including mini buses, in donation from India, Pakistan, Japan and Iran over the past decade.

He complained his department lacked spare parts, mechanic workshops, drivers, with half of the vehicles grounded. Seeking government help, he said many drivers had quit due to low salaries.

myn/ma