Monitoring Desk: A road patch of 21 kilometer, connecting three provinces of Afghanistan has yet not been completed although work was initiated seven years ago.
“Work on a vital road connecting central Kapisa province with other three provinces could not be resumed in seven years due to non-construction of the Gulbahar Bridge”, reports Pajhwok News Agency from Afghanistan.
The 21-kilometre road connects Mahmood Raqi’s Guldan area with Jablus Saraj Chock in Parwan province. Heavy and light traffic from the country’s east travel this road to the north.
The road makes the distance shorter between the eastern and northern provinces, compared to the road going to the north from Kabul, signifying its importance.
But in the Gulbahar Bazaar, work has been stopped on a 300-meter long bridge, interrupting vehicular movement. The previous bridge was made of woods and iron that often got damaged and resultantly brought the traffic to a halt.
The residents and local officials said work on the vital road was expected to be completed in three years, but due the non-construction of Gulbahar bridge, work on the road was also halted. Many parts of the bridge have damaged and this winter drivers may fear using the bridge as it often results in accidents.
Kapisa public works director, Eng. Mohammad Edress Mirzada informed News agency that the Public Works Ministry had signed the contract for the Guldan-Jablus Saraj road and his department was not given the authority of supervising the project. He stated that the problem had been between the company and the donor.
“Problem in the company’s credentials was raised after it started work on the project and this problem took two years to be solved and that was the reason the project implementation was delayed”, he said.
The $26 million project was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Based on the contract, the project had to be completed within three years after its launch in 2010. The road patch is 21-kilometer long and seven-meter wide.
“Corruption is one of the main impediments for development projects in Afghanistan and now international donors are reluctant to accept large scale corruption that was previously accepted by them (donors)”, said Faizullah Qadeer who is a construction consultant based in Kabul.
