China to construct township worth $71m

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Urban Development and Land on Tuesday said China would construct a residential township worth $71 million in Darul Aman area of Kabul city under an agreement.

 In a statement, the ministry said it signed the first phase agreement of the township with the project implementing company in the presence of President Ashraf Ghani at the Presidential Palace.

“The launch of the first phase of the project with financial support of China is one of the most important joint and bilateral projects of the two countries, which will begin in Kabul”, the statement said.

It added construction work on the project would be completed within 40 months and the residential scheme will be spread over 21 hectors of land in Darul Aman area.

The first phase of the township would include 56 residential blocks consisting of 1,400 residential units. The ministry said 280 units each will have four rooms, 560 three rooms and the rest 560 will have two rooms.

The statement further said after completion of the first phase of the project, residential units will be distributed to civil servants and the project launch will solve homelessness of Kabul citizens.

The project would bring about significant changes in economic life of people  and enable the private sector and donor institutions to invest in similar schemes.

According to the Ministry of Urban Development, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Afghanistan and China on construction of 10,000 houses in Afghanistan was signed on November 3, 2015.

pk/ma