Paktika people ask government to repair damaged roads

SHARAN (Pajhwok): Residents of southeastern Paktika province say parts of roads between districts and the provincial capital, Sharan, which have been damaged during conflicts and by rains should be repaired.

Jumaddin, a resident of Mata Khan district of Paktika, told Pajhwok Afghan News that large parts of the province’s roads had been damaged in recent years due to conflicts and floods.

He mentioned Paktika-Paktia road as an example and said that large portion of the highway was damaged by war and floods and needed to be repaired.

“If the government takes early action for the repair of damaged roads and bridges, it would cost less and prevent further destruction of remaining parts of roads,” he said.

Jumaddin said that the road between Sharan to Mata Khan district and from Mata Khan to Zurmat district needed to be repaired. Currently it takes about an hour for people to travel on this road instead of 25 minutes, he said.

Salman, a resident of Sharan city, also said that the roads leading from the provincial capital to districts needed to be reconstructed. He said that carelessness about roads’ maintenance would further damage the routes.

There is currently no security threats which is a great opportunity for the government to rebuild roads at lower costs, he said.

A resident of Maidan Wardak province, who drives a truck from Angora Ada port in Paktia province to capital Kabul, said that over loaded trucks had damaged roads.

He asked the government to take action to control the weight of truck loads in addition to repairing damaged roads.

MulaviAdil, Paktika public works director, told Pajhwok that they had limited resources for reconstruction but there was need for more constructions to be done.

With the establishment of the new government, the public works department has repaired highways, bridges and damaged facilities, as well as a number of subways, he said.

He asked people to cooperate with public works department in rebuilding their country.

This comes as a survey for the repair of Sharan and Zurmat district road has already been completed.

mds/ma