KABUL and Livestock Minister Mohammad Asif Rahimi said on Saturday eight international standard cold storages would be constructed in six provinces over the next two years.
The minister said an agreement had been signed with the Afghan Cooling Construction Company (ACCC) on execution of the $28 million project.
The ministry-funded international standard scheme will take two years to complete. The cold storages are being built in Kandahar, Balkh, Nangarhar, Herat and Kunduz provinces.
Rahimi said the venues would serve as storage complexes each having processing, packaging, cleaning, administrative rooms, power sub-stations, protection towers, water reservoirs, vehicle parking lots, fuel pump stations and other technical facilities.
The minister said each cold storage would have a capacity of storing 50,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables, saying the storages in Kabul would have wholesale market facility.
Mohammad Qurban Haqjo, Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) executive chief, said the proposed cold storages should help reduce problems facing farmers and gardeners.
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