Overloaded trucks damage most of Paktia roads: Residents

GARDEZ (Pajhwok): Residents of southeastern Paktia province say overloaded trucks have damaged most of the roads in the province and the roads would be further damaged if no action is taken against the truckers.

Hundreds of trucks mostly loaded with coal travel to Pakistan from Paktia in recent months. These trucks arrive from Kabul to Gardez, the provincial capital, and from there they move to Dand Patan district.

People say the overloaded trucks have damaged most parts of the roads. Khan Mohammad Totakhel, a resident of Syed Karam district, told Pajhwok Afghan News that hundreds of trucks could be seen going to the border with Pakistan on a daily basis.

He said the trucks carried load beyond the prescribed limit and thus had badly damaged roads.

Tribal elder Haji Naik Mohammad also expressed his concern over the situation of roads in the province, saying most of the roads had damaged and were further damaged with the passage of time.

“People were demanding from the previous government to reconstruct destroyed portions of the  Gardez-Patan road and we urge the current government to do so.”

He said road was a transit route and used by hundreds of trucks on a daily basis. He said the number of heavy vehicles on the road had recently increased. He said if overloading was not controlled, the road would be further damaged.

Other residents of Paktia expressed similar views and urged the government to reconstruct the damaged portion of roads and take practical steps towards controlling overloading.

Officials in the province say they are aware of the problem and have taken steps to control the weight of vehicles.

Maulvi Ahmad Ahmadi, director of Paktia's public works department, told Pajhwok Afghan News: "We have installed weight scales that control the weight of all trucks and those who are overweight are treated legally."

He said vehicles which carried load beyond the prescribed limit faced legal action and their goods were unloaded.

Regarding the destruction of roads, Maulvi Ahmad said the big problem was that heavy vehicles had not been taken into consideration while constructing these roads.

He said the problem of roads should be solved at the national level. “This is because such trucks travel from one province to another”.

Daham, Paktia's director of public works, said they planned to rehabilitate the most damaged sections of the roads in the new year.

A contract to reconstruct the damaged portion of the Gardez-Patan highway was signed in the previous government but work on the road is yet to be started.

ma