Contracts for non-discretionary power projects be cancelled

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Economic Commission on Monday said contracts for non-discretionary power projects with companies should be revoked.

The commission also said the Mes Aynak copper mine agreement from technical aspect and the internationalization of Abu Nasar Farahi port should be examined.

The meeting of the Economic Commission was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The Economic Commission tasked a joint committee headed by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, comprising representatives from the ministries of Finance, Industry and Trade, Urban Development and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs to examine the Mes Aynak mine’s agreement from technical aspects with the Chinese company MCC in detail and submit a report to the commission.

According to reports, the Mes Aynak copper mine contract in Logar province was signed with the company in solar year 1388 (2009) for 30 years. Another Chinese company, Jiangxi, also has a 25 percent stake in the project.

Excavations have been carried out in the area of ​​the mine and in 1399 solar year alone, 3100 historical artifacts were found there, but the work related to the mine has progressed very slowly and the extraction work has not started yet.

The Presidential Palace on its twitter account wrote that the Economic Commission allowed the power company to cancel its contracts with the contractors for non-discretionary projects, surrender the equipment and protect them.

However, no further details were mentioned.

The commission also instructed a joint committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the Customs Department, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the National Agency for Standardization to conduct technical discussions and research on the issue of internationalization of the Abu Nasr Farahi commercial port and submit a report to the commission.

The port, located on the border with Iran, is located 121 kilometers from Farah city.

The port is used for the import of petroleum products, cement, ceramics, iron and other commercial goods, and the government earns billions of afghanis annually from the port.

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