Resumption of work on female-only mart demanded

MEHTARLAM (Pajhwok): A number of Laghman businesswomen have called on the government to resume construction works on the female-only market in the eastern province.

Construction work on the market exclusively for women had been initiated by the previous government. But the project’s execution has now come to a halt.

Rubina, director of a small factory in Mehtarlam, told Pajhwok Afghan News, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MoUDH) had launched the construction of the market, which remained incomplete.

She said: “I am running a small tailoring and beadwork factory inside my house and have hired seven women. My business  has made little progress due to the absence of a suitable market where I could sell my products.

“I request the relevant government officials to support businesswomen by providing them a suitable location for selling their products,” she added.

Noorina is another female entrepreneur, making pickles, jams and tomato-pastes. She was provided necessary technical items by the Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Department but her business remains sluggish.

She also wants the reaming work on the female-only market to be completed so that businesswomen can get a proper location for the sale of their products.

Diba Samandari, a representative of the Laghman Women Chambers of Commerce and Investment, said they had registered 500 businesswomen, who were already running small businesses in their homes.

Samandari said: “We have tried a lot to get a suitable location for such women. To address the issue, we have held special meetings with the governor and officials of Economy, Industry and Commerce and Vice and Virtue departments.”

Urban Development Director Maulvi Hussain Ahmad Tilwi recalled work on the special market for women was launched in 2018 in Sultan Ghazi Baba Township at a cost of 22.5 million afs. But the project’s implementation stopped after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s takeover.

About 70 percent of work on the market had been completed and they were in contact with the ministry concerned for the resumption of the project, he said.

The official continued a number of humanitarian organisations had expressed their readiness to help complete the remaining work,

But Economy Director Maulvi Jan Mohammad Hamid promised the UNDP would soon restart the remaining construction work on the market.

aw/mud

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