Ghazni residents want work on airport resumed  

GHAZNI (Pajhwok): The residents of the southern Ghazni province have demanded the completion of the construction work of airport that witnessed years of delay.

The airport upon its completion will facilitate thousands of residents who work in abroad countries and will attract the tourism which is a source of income for the government.

The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) began the construction works of Ghazni provincial airport in 2013 by allocating 100 million afs on a 2,500 acre land in Unit area but after the leveling of airport’s runway, the work was stopped for unknown reasons.

Haji Juma Taraki, a local businessman told Pajhwok Afghan News that many airports were constructed in other provinces but work on Ghazni airport remained uncompleted. He urged the caretaker government to resume work on this scheme.

Taraki added that Ghazni based traders also complained against the lack of airport because they could not conducted business trips to their province or could not send commercial products through air corridor to their province.

He asked the government to resume work of the airport to facilitate the local people, attract the tourism which is an important source of income.

Jamshed, a resident of Ghazni told Pajhwok Afghan News that the trade and tourism will flourish when the airport is made functional in the province and it will generate many job opportunities for the people as well.

Ghazni is a densely populated and a very important province which is bordering eight other provinces, the government must have begun the works before, Jamshed added.

Zaki Qalandari, Deputy Head of the Chambers of Commerce said, airport is an urgent need of the province. The businessmen face many difficulties about delivering gold and medicines and the airport can bring many facilities about tourism too, he added.

Mawlavi Safiullah Mahfoz, the airport director, of told Pajhwok Afghan news that only the rough runway of the airport is useable, the airport lacks all the other importance technical facilities.

Many of the fundamental facilities needed to be built in the airport and it does not have asphalted runway, taxi way, terminal building and passengers waiting facilities need to be built.

The airport has a rough two kilometer long and 70 meters wide runway and a surrounding wall, Mahfoz added.

Mahfoz said that the foreign troops destroyed the radio and radar facilities of the airport prior their evacuation. Currently the construction of airport needs 70 million afs the issue that he already talked about to the ministry of MoTCA.

If the airport is constructed and the civil flights begin, the problems of many other provinces (like Daikundi, Bamyam, Maidan Wardak, Paktia & Paktika) will be solved as well, he added.

Since the inauguration of Ghazni airport about nine years ago, only Kam Air made a flight to this airport, no more flights were made so far.

Only the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) or United Nations (UN) planes make a flight or two weekly.

Aw/nh