Ghani inaugurates 2 solar power projects in Kandahar

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday inaugurated two major solar power schemes in southern Nangarhar province.

The projects would produce 15 megawatts of electricity each and would cost $39 million, with the Afghan government contributing $14 million and the rest by Zularistan Company and Turkish Company 77.

During the inauguration ceremony, President Ghani said the projects would resolve shortage of electricity for Kandahar people to some extent. However, he said efforts to provide more energy to the province were ongoing.

He said implementation of the solar projects was a new phase of utilizing available resources for power production in the country.

Ghani added Kandahar currently needed 300 megawatts of electricity and up to 2,000 megawatts of power was required to boost agriculture, industry and mining in the province.

After the two projects, the president would also inaugurate a 350-bed hospital in Kandahar city, the provincial capital.

Ghani would stay in Kandahar today and tomorrow for meeting civil and military officials, tribal elders, industrialists, Islamic scholars, women and youths in separate meetings.

He was accompanied by a number of ministers and Wolesi Jirga members during his trip to the province today.

After his arrival to Kandahar, Ghani participated in a ceremony for changing the name of Kandahar International Airport to Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport.

According to Ghani, Kandahar products would be exported to Gulf, Europe and other countries through this airport.

The president also named a newly-constructed square and road to the airport after former police chief Abdul Raziq, who was killed in a terrorist attack last year.

The road inaugurated today is 16.4 kilometers long and 69.2 meters wide. It was built at a cost of 2.8 billion afghanis from the government’s development budget.

Mds/ma

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