57 Rural Development Projects for 5
Provinces
Kandahar,
(18/01/2008):-
In
his
9th
trip to Kandahar, the Minister of Rural
Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD),
Mohammed Ehsan Zia signed 57 contracts worth
US$ 3,004,305
for development projects in five southern
provinces of Kandahar, Urozgan, Helmand,
Zabul and Nimroz. The contracts were signed
between MRRD, the community development
councils and private construction companies.
The contracted projects are designed to improve the quality
of life of the people in these five
provinces and include the construction of 7
Water Supply Projects, 19 Retaining walls, 5
intakes, 2 Check Dams, boring of 250 wells,
construction of 1.160 km road,160 m bridge
and one comprehensive health clinic.
With the implementation of these new projects, 52929
labor days will be created and upon the
completion, 46959 individuals in 17
distracts of Kandahar, Urozgan, Helmand,
Zabul and Nimroz provinces will receive
socio-economical benefit. The funding for
these projects comes from CIDA, DFID, the
Dutch and Belgium Governments.
“We can see good progress in the southern provinces since
last year when MRRD started to expedite the
development in this area” said, H.E Mohammed
Ehsan Zia Minister of Rural Rehabilitation
and Development. “The success of development
depends on the massive participation of the
people throughout.
Mr. Abdul Ghani Head of Community Development Assembly of
Daman District of Kandahar who was present
at the contract signing ceremony said “we
appreciate the efforts of the government of
Afghanistan and MRRD. most of the
implemented projects have improved our lives
already. Last year we had canal cleaning
projects and this year we saw increase in
our agriculture produce, roads have made
easier our access too. If similar projects
are implemented in our region no one will
need to grow poppy”.
Since Jan 2007 MRRD has take on the lead in developing the
restive southern provinces of Afghanistan
and so far has contracted around 532
projects worth US$ 25,616,550 for the
provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul,
Nimroz and Urozgan most of which have
already been completed. The projects not
only provided improvements in the quality of
life but have also created 18,000 short term
jobs for the youth of this country.
