Ghor residents demand urgent reconstruction of central highway

FEROZKOH (Pajhwok): Residents of central Ghor province ask the caretaker government to reconstruct the broken and bumpy Kabul-Ghor and Ghor-Herat highways ignored by the previous government.

Ami Mohammad, 38, a resident of Ferozkoh city, told Pajhwok Afghan News that vehicles and commuters faced many problems due to the rundown condition of these roads. He said recent snowfall had clogged the Kabul-Ferozkoh highway.

“The road is in worst condition especially at the snow-covered Kotal Bakak pass. Due to a lot of mud, vehicles face difficulty. We were stuck in the snow and mud for six hours until big vehicles came and saved us, otherwise we would have fallen sick due to severe cold.”

Holding officials of the previous governments responsible for all miseries of people, he said: “No leader of the past governments thought about the development of Ghor and the condition of the central highway was always ignored.”

Ghulam Mohiuddin, another resident of Ghor, said: “Despite billions of dollars of international aid flowing into Afghanistan, no attention was paid to the development of Ghor in the past two decades.”

He added: “Unfortunately, the previous governments did not listen to the voices of the people of Ghor. The people protested for months demanding reconstruction of the central highway, they filed a lawsuit, but nothing happened.”

For two days, the residents of Ghor launched a hashtag campaign on social media, especially Facebook, under the name “Find out the deprived Ghor”.

On their Facebook pages, the users published pictures of the damaged Ghor-Kabul and Ghor-Herat highways and traffic jams on the route. They asked the caretaker government and national and international institutions to pay attention to the deprivation of this province.

Khan Mohammad Silab, one of the residents of Ghor, wrote on his Facebook page: “When a person travels from Herat to Ghor or from Ghor to Kabul, he realizes what real deprivation means.”

Usman Ghori, another user of the Facebook, also wrote: “It is injustice when one million people are deprived of basic life amenities, specially electricity.”

However, local officials of Ghor also said that in the past 20 years, the previous governments failed to pay any attention to the people of Ghor despite the billions of dollars of international aid.

Abdul Hai Zaim, director of information and culture, also wrote on his Facebook page: “The reconstruction of the Ghor road is one of the most important and vital projects in the country, which was unfortunately paid no attention in the past. It is important because due to the lack of roads and blocked roads, many patients suffer or die.”

Abdul Wahid Hamas, the governor’s spokesman, said they had shared all the people’s demands with the authorities in the center. He said they were striving to start the reconstruction of the road with the extraction of copper mine.

He said: “We feel the problems of our people who commute on the central highway. The leadership of the Islamic Emirate in Ghor is working hard and it is hoped that with the start of mining operations, the road will be reconstructed.”

sa/ma