22 new projects being implemented in 12 provinces

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) on Sunday said 22 development projects would be implemented in 12 provinces and would benefit around 1.5 million people.

The contracts of the projects were signed between RRD Minister Mujib Rahman Karimi and a number of village development councils and private companies in Kabul today.

The schemes would be implemented in Daikundi, Faryab, Ghor, Jawjzan, Kabul, Kunduz, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Panjsher and Parwan provinces.

During signing of the contacts, Mujib Rahman Karimi said the projects included construction of schools, mosques, retaining walls, subways, water dams, deep wells and bridges that would be implemented over the next six months or one year.

These projects would cost more than 225 million afghanis funded by the Indian Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, he said.

Karimi said the projects would create jobs for 82,000 people and would benefit 1.5 million local residents once implemented.

He added so far 1,074 projects worth 5.5 billion afghanis had been executed under the Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Program (AREDP) in different parts of the country, creating jobs for more than two million people and benefiting around five million people.

Mohammad Hamid, head of the development council for Rakha district of Panjsher province, who signed the contract of building a retaining wall in his area, said that residents of the district lost many acres of farmland to the Panjsher River every year.

Besides preventing destruction of people’s land, the retaining wall would also secure 225 families from the risk of floods, he said.

At the end of the meeting, Mujib Rahman Karimi asked development councils and construction companies to maintain quality work and said the ministry would watch the construction process.

mds/ma