Badpakh residents struggling with lack of marketplace

MEHTARLAM (Pajhwok): Residents of Badpakh district in eastern Laghman province complain about the absence of a proper marketplace and they walk for hours to reach Mehtarlam, the provincial capital, for purchasing daily use item.

Malak Zirat Gul, a tribal elder of Shah Gulian area of the district, told Pajhwok Afghan News there were two local shops in the entire district, offering food and other goods in very small quantities.

He said: “We go to Mehtarlam in a taxi for purchasing food and non-food items.”

He added about 12,000 families lived in the valleys.

Malak Mohammad Khan, a tribal elder of Sanzali valley, said about 1,000 families lived in the valley and they went to Mehtarlam for purchasing necessary items in a month due to the absence of market in the district.

He asked the interim government to construct markets in the district to address people’s problems.

Meanwhile, Housing and Urban Development Department officials also acknowledged the problem faced by the residents of Badpakh district and assured of solution.

Maulvi Hussain Ahmad, director of the department, said his department was striving to address the problem in cooperation with provincial administration.

He said they were working on a plan to construct markets, amusement parks and health centres in each district of the province.

Badpakh is situated west of the provincial capital, encompassing 70 big and small villages with a total population of about 60,000 people.

kk/ma