Drivers ask govt to repair Kabul-Kandahar highway

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Commuters and drivers ask the government for reconstruction of the Kabul-Kandahar highway, saying the route has been badly damaged during the past several years of fighting and it is even unusable for traffic.

The Kabul-Kandahar highway is the country’s main route that was damaged during decades of fighting, landmine explosions and heavy traffic, which nearly doubled the travel time from six hours.

Toryalai, who has been driving on Kabul-Kandahar highway for the past five years, said many bridges and culverts along the route had been destroyed during conflicts and landmine blasts, which had made it difficult for travel.

He added that much of the road had been damaged due to overloaded heavy traffic, also increasing the risk of accidents.

He said that in the past, government would say that the repair of the highway was not possible due to the conflict, but now security has improved and officials concerned should now take action for its reconstruction.

If the government repaired all the damaged bridges and repaired the road, it would not only ease their movement, but people would also reach their destinations on time, he said.

Atiqullah, a resident of Ghazni province who regularly travels on the road, told Pajhwok Afghan News that in addition to the conflict, heavy cargo loads had also damaged the highway.

He added that more than half of the road was damaged by overloaded vehicles.

"I know a lot of drivers who overload their trucks in violation to the legal weight, which made the road unpaved, preventing the violation was hard due to corruption in the government,” he said.

He urged the current officials of the government to control the problem of overweight vehicles and also to take action for repair of the highway.

Road damage has not only increased traffic accidents, but has also affected the economy of drivers.

Many drivers say damaged bridges and poor road conditions have also caused their vehicles to become faulty time to time.

Niamatullah, who drives a taxi from Ghazni to Kandahar, complained about the same problems. He said he spent more than half of his income on his car repairs.

"I have been driving on this road for the last four years. If we could earn 5,000 afghanis a month, half of it would be spent back on the car. I then stopped driving,” he added.

ZabihullahMujahid, government spokesman earlier in an interview with Pajhwok said that vehicles which loaded more than legal weight would not be allowed to move on roads.

He said that the government had installed high tonnage scales in several locations and the process was carefully monitored.

MaulviHabibullahMujahid, director of information and culture of Ghazni province, said that a plan has been developed for repairing Kabul-Kandahar highway.

He added that a number of culverts have been constructed and others were under construction, as well as some parts of the road were being repaired.

According to him, the new administration did not have budget at the moment, but there was plan for fundamental construction of the route.

Mds/ma