National buses resume operating in Kandahar

KANDAHAR (Pajhwok):  The National Bus Enterprise in southern Kandahar province has repaired five out of order buses which on Saturday resumed plying the roads in Kandahar City, the provincial capital.

Abdul Basir Samimi, head of the enterprise, told Pajhwok Afghan News three of the five reactivated buses would provide services in Kandahar City and the two others would run between Kandahar City and Spin Boldak border town.

He said they planned to repair another five buses and deploy them in Kandahar City. “We have a total of 55 buses most of them are not repairable. We repaired five buses and want to repair five more.”

He said the national buses faced problems in areas of fuel and salaries of their staff and if the five buses performed well, these issues would be resolved.

He said fuel expenses and staff salaries had to be met from the revenue of the buses, which was difficult at the beginning because the operation was new.

Meanwhile, Maulvi Mohibullah Garmsiri, director of the Kandahar governor’s office, said that the governor’s office would initially provide fuel to the buses and would see if the buses could cover their expenses and earn income.

He said the buses would charge every passenger 10 afghanis inside the city and charge 120 afghanis from passengers travelling to Spin Boldak  — the lowest fare.

A worker of the National Buses Enterprise, Khalil Ahmad, said he had been working with the department for the last 20 years and had not received his salary for the past 13 months.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News the enterprise was closed during last days of the republic government and all buses were grounded, therefore he and other workers could not be paid their salaries.

“I have been working here for the past 20 years and have not received my salary for the past 13 months, now I hope with reactivation of the buses, our salaries would also be paid.”

Kandahar residents expressed happiness over the reactivation of the national buses because the buses charge less fare and passengers could travel to any part of the city in the buses.

Another resident, Abdul Jabbar, said: “It is good that the buses have resumed operating and their number should be increased because they charge less fare and people can comfortably travel in these vehicles.”

During the past 20 years, India, Pakistan and Iran have provided a large number of buses to Kandahar province, but the buses developed faults during a short period because their spare parts were not available at home.

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