Ghazni’s Jaghatu residents demand telecom services

GHAZNI (Pajhwok): The residents of Jaghatu district of southern Ghazni province complain they have been lacking access to telecommunications services since decades.

They say they climb mountains or travel for hours to Ghazni city to make contact with relatives and friends.

Hassan Raza Khaki, a tribal elder from Torgan valley of Jaghatu district, told Pajhwok Afghan News that residents of the valley had been lacking access to telecommunication services since the past two decades.

“We ask the government to provide telecommunication services to the residents of this area and address our problem”.

“We have no access to telecom services since 22 years, the past government neglected our demand, we want the current government to address this issue and install telecom antennas in this area,” Khaki said.

Haji Zaki, another tribal elder, said due to the absence of telecommunication services, local residents were unable to inform their relatives to participate in their ceremonies. People have to walk to other areas for making a phone call. Zaki also asked the government to solve the problem.

Telecommunications and Information Technology Department officials acknowledged some areas in Ghazni province faced telecom problems, but they said the services would be made available in all districts according to a plan.

Mawlawi Abdul Wali Tayyib Ahmad, the department head, told Pajhwok Afghan News they were in contact with telecommunication companies to address the problem.

“We have addressed such issues in many parts of the province and reactivated many inactive services and installed new antennas in six districts”, Ahmad said.

He said they had shared some recommendations with the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology for more and better services and hoped for their approval.

According to the Telecommunication Department, Ghazni has 18 districts and residents of Gilan, Khogyani, Waghaz, Khwaja Omari and Aab Band districts have access to telecom services while the residents of Giru, Zana Khan, Ajristan, Jaghatu districts and some other areas still have no access to telecommunication services.

Besides a government telecom services provider, four private telecom companies are operating in Ghazni, but most residents are not satisfied with thier services.

aw/ma